


Utopia

by Tricia_chan



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood Drinking, F/M, M/M, Pre-2018 Winter Olympics, Pre-Grand Prix Final, Vampire Bites, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 15:17:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 35,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12135264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tricia_chan/pseuds/Tricia_chan
Summary: A charity figure-skating expedition turns into a chaotic mess when a mysterious incident leaves several figure skaters turned into vampires.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the rights to Yuri! On Ice, they belong to Mitsurō Kubo and Saya Yamamoto. Hoo-whee—plotting this fanfic took a lot out of me. You can thank the movie The Lost Boys for giving me inspiration to write a vampire fanfic (I know, hardly original). However, my simple plan of writing a vampire fanfic for Halloween became more complicated as I wanted this to be as accurate as possible. So I've spent the last week or so researching about figure-skating, but I'm still fairly certain I've gotten some things wrong so I apologize in advance.
> 
> So…yeah. This takes place during the 2017-18 Grand Prix season, so this also takes place before the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. Because The Lost Boys was part of the inspiration of this story, the vampire mythos follows that movie.
> 
> I hope you enjoy.

Utopia

Chapter One

It was for a great cause. Katsuki Yuuri knew this, which is why he felt guilty for feeling uneasy.

His eyes scanned the Golden Wave banquet hall of the Meliá Vienna Hotel, inwardly amazed by the number of figure skaters that had arrived to participate. Invitations had gone out at the beginning of September—a charity drive for child leukemia, with celebrity figure skaters putting on a free performance (and also donating money themselves) livestreamed on the internet with the hopes of garnering pledges and raise money for research. One hundred professional figure skaters from all over the world had been invited to Vienna, Austria to skate marathon-style over the course of sixteen hours in one day to raise money. Yuuri recognized many retired professional skaters mingling with other skaters and organizers, which didn't surprise him in the slightest. What  _did_  surprise him was the sheer number of figure skaters in attendance who were competing professionally. Not just in the Grand Prix series but also in the Challengers series and other international competitions. Senior level, junior level, and even  _novice_  level skaters were all there to participate.

It was very surprising to Yuuri. Not that he was shocked to see so many people in the spirit of giving, but because the timing of this charity run was  _not_  during the off-season.

 _Today is October 24_ _th_ _. The charity marathon is tomorrow, October 25_ _th_ _. The Rostelecom Cup just ended two days ago, Skate Canada starts on the 27_ _th_ _, and the Cup of China starts on November 3_ _rd_ _. And this isn't including the other competitions going on in other series's. Why did they schedule a charity event like this right smack in the middle of the season?!_ Yuuri looked out over the banquet hall again. A buffet tablet lined the opposite wall, and wait staff was walking around offering drinks to the skaters and guests. Yuuri recognized Michele and Sara Crispino standing a few feet away from him with Emil Nekola. Yuuri felt his brow lift slightly when he saw the glasses the Crispino siblings were holding. Emil was holding a regular champagne glass, but Michele and Sara looked like they were holding slender gold chalices.  _I know this is for a good cause, but one would think the organizers would've been considerate enough to time this better!_

Graceful hands descended down Yuuri's line of vision before he was embraced from behind. Soft breath tickled his ear, and Yuuri shivered at the familiar voice. "You're frowning, Yuuri. What's the matter?"

Yuuri's eyes slid closed, and he took a moment to absorb the comfort he felt from being held by Victor Nikiforov. He reached up with his right hand to clasp Victor's right hand, and their matching rings caught the light from the chandelier. "Are you sure you're okay to do this, Victor?"

"Of course I'm okay. We both made the podium at the Rostelecom Cup, we're participating in a charity event, and I'm spending time with the man I love. What more could I ask for?"

"Victor, you won gold at Rostelecom," Yuuri reminded him. "I won  _bronze_  and Otabek Altin won silver."  _And Yurio mocked me mercilessly for it. I've never heard him cheer so loud for anyone than when Otabek won silver._

"Winning bronze is still an accomplishment to be proud of, Yuuri."

"I don't mind that I won bronze," Yuuri said honestly. "But I'm worried about  _you_ , Victor."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because you won Worlds and you broke my record at Rostelecom. You're practically a shoe-in for the Final."

"If I were to believe that, then that would be arrogant."

"Victor." Yuuri reluctantly pulled out of his arms and turned to look at him. "I'm scheduled to participate in the NHK Trophy on November 10th."

"And I look forward to acting as your coach during the competition in your home country."

"But  _you're_  scheduled to participate in the Cup of China," Yuuri pointed. "That's a week away! We both skated in Rostelecom earlier this week, but I have  _two_  weeks to recuperate before my next event! I don't think it's a good idea for you to skate in Rostelecom, then a charity skate, and  _then_  at the Cup of China just a week apart! I-I mean; you technically don't  _need_  to skate at the Cup of China with how high your score was at Rostelecom! I can't imagine anyone, including myself, getting a score that high!"

Victor held onto his smile, but Yuuri could tell he was forcing it. "I don't quite understand your point, Yuuri."

"Victor." Yuuri suddenly felt conscious of the fact that they were having this conversation in public and not in private. He shook his head furiously, suddenly feeling like an idiot. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have—"

"Yuuri." Victor stepped forward and cupped his chin with his thumb and forefinger. He leaned in close to Yuuri's face, so close that their noses were touching. "I was teasing. I understand your concern. You believe that I'm working too hard in such a short period of time, when you feel that I don't need to. And you're concerned that because I'm doing so much so soon that I might injure myself before the Final…and before the Olympics."

Yuuri swallowed thickly. "I—I'm sorry to upset you—"

"Upset? Why would I be upset? The man I love sees me as a worthy competitor and wants to take care of me. I'm thrilled, Yuuri. But I don't want you to worry. I know what I'm doing."

Yuuri found himself distracted by the close proximity of Victor's mouth, and tore his gaze away from it to look Victor in the eyes. That was a mistake though, and his mouth went dry when he saw the heat in the blue eyes hovering over him. "If I qualify for the Final now, I can spend the rest of November recuperating for the Final and to get my routine ready for the Olympics. And if  _you_  qualify from your results at NHK, then you can do the same." Victor's thumb slowly traced Yuuri's bottom lip. "After all, we'll be competing against each other at Grand Prix  _and_  at the Olympics, so we might as well be in top form."

It still amazed Yuuri that the JOC had chosen  _him_  to be one of three male figure skaters to represent Japan in Pyeongchang (and he knew that Minami Kenjirou had also been chosen as well), and he didn't quite understand why he'd been chosen when his track record performance at the competition level was less than stellar. He hadn't been surprised when the ROC had chosen both Victor and Yuri Plisetsky as the two male figure skaters to represent Russia, and while Yuuri was thrilled to be competing against them, competing in the Grand Prix and then the Olympics didn't really help his anxiety issues.

_I'll do my best. That's all I can do. Victor will be here with me, even though we're competitors. He'll support me…and I must support him, too._

"Just…take care of yourself," Yuuri said finally. "That's what I mean to say."

"Thank you for looking out for me, but I  _will_  be okay. The Cup of China is still a week from now." Victor looked away from Yuuri then. "There are skaters here that are set to compete in Skate Canada, you know."

"Wait,  _what_?!" Yuuri spun around to look around the banquet hall. "Who?! Skate Canada is less than three days from now!"

"Well, just two that I've seen so far," Victor said, craning his neck to look around. "I don't believe they're actually skating though. Ah, there's JJ. He's supposed to be competing to Skate Canada." Indeed, Jean-Jacques Leroy himself was standing near the buffet table, sporting his usual arrogant smile as he accepted a similar gold chalice from a waiter that the Crispino siblings also had. His arm was around Isabella, who shook her head at the waiter when he offered her a chalice as well.

Yuuri shook his head. "I would ask why he flew in to Vienna to make an appearance at a charity he's not participating in, when he needs to be in Saskatchewan on the 27th, but he's a philanthropist isn't he? I wouldn't put it past him to make a public appearance for charity's sake."  _Even if he is a bit full of himself._

"And—ah! There's Seung-Gil. He's also competing in Skate Canada." Yuuri's eyes widened when he saw Lee Seung-Gil standing alongside his coach. His expression was dark, and he was gripping the familiar gold chalice so tight in his fist that his knuckles had turned white. He clearly wasn't having a good time

Victor leaned in close to whisper to Yuuri. "I overheard some gossip. Apparently since he's the only male figure skater representing South Korea at the Olympics, his coach forced him to fly here before Skate Canada and make an appearance for appearance's sake."

Yuuri was very familiar with flying to North America, and he knew that flying to Vienna from South Korea, while en route to Canada, was a  _massive_ detour. He shook his head in sympathy. "Was that wise to plan his travel this way? Once he reaches Saskatchewan, he'll be lucky if he doesn't suffer from serious jetlag."

Victor frowned slightly. "They don't make a good team, I'm afraid. Having observed Seung-Gil and Ms. Park at previous competitions, their priorities are not in-synch. Seung-Gil's priority is always on the competition he's participating in, while Ms. Park's priority always has been on the Olympics. I'm afraid she might not care how well Seung-Gil does during the Grand Prix series, so long as he does well at the Olympics."

"B-But doesn't she realize that the Olympics is still gathering point for the qualifier for the Team Skate? If Seung-Gil doesn't even qualify for the Grand Prix Final, it will negatively affect South Korea's chances of qualifying for the Team Skate!"

Victor shrugged. "Like I said, they don't make a good team. We on the other hand…" he draped himself over Yuuri once more. "Are the best team ever."

Yuuri snorted. "I think you have a bit of a bias."

"Mmm, that I do." Victor leaned over to kiss the corner of his mouth. Yuuri blushed straight to his ears.

"Awww, come on!" a shout startled the both of them and they looked up. "That was so  _close_! I almost had the perfect photo!"

"P-Phichit!" Yuuri sputtered, staring wide-eyed at his best friend. "What are you doing?!"

"Trying to take a picture of you two kissing," Phichit Chulanont answered shamelessly. He was pointing his cell phone on his selfie-stick at them while also trying to balance said stick with the gold chalice he was holding. "Come on, help me out! I'm almost to a million followers on Instagram! The pictures I post of you two always floods people to my page! If I get one of you two kissing on the mouth, it'll definitely push me over a million! Yuuri, be a pal and kiss your husband for me!"

"Phichit," Yuuri said, rage quickly simmering inside him. "My personal life isn't something you can—"

"Like this?" Victor interrupted, and promptly slipped his tongue into Yuuri's open mouth. Yuuri let out a strangled noise, but the heat from the deep kiss sent shockwaves through his body. His knees turned to jelly and he felt his toes curl inside his shoes. Victor dipped him very slightly, and Yuuri briefly forgot where they were and reached up to caress Victor's face as he reciprocated the kiss.

"Good, that's awesome!" Phichit shouted encouragingly. He winced slightly though as he took the pictures. "Ah, I should've set this to video instead of photo!"

Victor pulled Yuuri back up into a standing position, and gently took hold of his arm when he swayed. " _Sozhaleyu_ ," he whispered to Yuuri. "But I'll take any opportunity as an excuse to kiss you. Was that okay?" Victor asked Phichit.

"Oh, more than okay!" Phichit cheered. "These pictures will probably net me  _two_  million followers! Hey Guang-Hong! You've gotta see this!" He took his phone off his selfie-stick and raced over to Ji Guang-Hong. The teenager already had a luminescent blush, but his face turned even redder when he saw the photos Phichit had just taken.

Yuuri collected himself enough to try and muster a response for Victor when an unfamiliar voice slithered over his skin. "Would you like some wine, good sirs?"

It was a male voice speaking accented English. Both Yuuri and Victor turned to see the waiter who was offering gold chalices on his tray. He was the only person on the wait staff who was offering drinks in such a unique manner, but none of the wait staff or the event organizers were bothered by him. The waiter appeared to be possibly a few years older than Victor, but his complexion was unsettlingly pale. It starkly contrasted with the yellow blonde hair that was slicked back on his head. His eyes were closed, and he offered them a closed-mouth smile.

But his demeanor was strangely inviting…as was the wine he was offering. Yuuri his head to clear it and raised a hand of rejection. "Thank you, but I never drink alcohol before a competition."

"This is a charity event Yuuri, not a competition," Victor gently reminded him. He picked up one of the chalices. " _Spasibo_."

"Still, I don't like drinking the night before I have to skate," Yuuri said, forcing a smile. "Thank you for the offer though."

"That's quite all right. I hope you enjoy it," the waiter said, a note of promise on his voice, before he turned and melted into the crowd. Yuuri blinked once, and the man was no longer there.

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" Victor asked. He sipped the wine, paused, and then drank heavily. "This is quite good."

"I'm all right, but thank you."

"Victor! Yuuri!" Christophe Giacometti raced over to them, and Yuuri guessed by his flushed face that he was intoxicated. A brown-haired man followed him, and Yuuri remembered Victor telling him that this was Chris's boyfriend. However, Yuuri had never been properly introduced to this person, so he didn't know his name—and after so many months, he was too embarrassed to ask. Chris draped over Yuuri, and Yuuri then smelled the alcohol plain as day on his breath. "I saw the show you two lovebirds just put on. Why not have an encore? We could invite you up to our room! We have a panoramic view, a bathtub in the bedroom,  _and_  I have the stripper pole set up!"

Yuuri yelped, and pulled himself free from Chris as Victor hummed with amusement. " _This_ I have to see. How on earth did you manage to get the stripper pole all the way up to your suite?"

Chris laughed behind his hand. "Oh…I have my ways. Why don't you both come up and see for yourself. The pole… _does_  miss you, Yuuri."

Yuuri felt the heat on his face and he was left sputtering as Victor also looked at him expectantly.  _N…Never mind worrying about Grand Prix, the Olympics, or even about whether or not Victor is working too hard! Clearly I'M the only one with any sense around here!_

* * *

Across the banquet hall, sitting cross-legged next to the buffet table, Yuri Plisetsky (aka Yurio) was positively seething as he watched Victor and Yuuri talking with Chris and—Chris's boyfriend, whatever the fuck his name was. Yuuri was red in the face and clearly not speaking a full sentence at whatever Chris had said.

_Maybe he's still distracted by the kiss Victor gave him._

Yuri swore, and violently shook his head.  _Stupid katsudon! Who wants to see that fatso make out with anyone?!_

"AH!" Phichit shouted. He cheered and pumped his fist. "I did it! I've got a million followers now because of that kissing photo!" He finished the gold chalice he was drinking. "Wow, that was good! I should get more of this!"

Yuri grumbled, and folded his arms over his chest as he pouted. To the northwest of the banquet hall he saw Yakov speaking to some other coach, and he was also holding a gold chalice. Yuri didn't see Lilia though, and he sank down lower so they couldn't see him.  _Where the fuck is Otabek?! I want to get the hell out of here!_

"Would you like some wine, sir?"

Yuri looked up. A blonde-haired waiter was smiling down at him and holding out his tray. One lone gold chalice remained on the tray.  _Geez, doesn't this guy get enough sunlight?_

But Yuri snorted and glared at the guy. "Do I look like I'm old enough to drink alcohol?!"

The waiter's smile didn't falter. "The legal drinking age in Austria is sixteen. You are at least sixteen, yes?"

Yuri blinked at this. He quickly looked around to make sure that Yakov and Lilia could not see him. Then he nodded to the waiter. "I am.  _Spasibo_." He accepted the chalice.

The waiter held onto his smile and lowered his tray. "Congratulations, you got the last of my special wine. Have a good night." He turned and walked away.

 _Well, that's…odd. Maybe._  He shrugged to himself and sniffed at the wine. It smelled…weird. It didn't smell like vinegar, or whatever wine was supposed to smell like.

_Well I don't know what wine smells like, really. I know what vodka smells like. But this doesn't really smell bad. It's rather…pleasant. I think._

Yuri lifted the chalice and took a tentative sip. He could almost feel his insides melt when the wonderful liquid filled his mouth. He grabbed the chalice in both hands and greedily gulped it down. He'd never tasted anything so  _good_  in his life.

"Are you drinking alcohol?"

Yuri choked, and a line of wine ran down his chin. He quickly wiped at his mouth and looked up. Otabek Altin was standing over him, and though he wore his usual stoic expression there was a slight look of disapproval in his eyes. "Hey, it's just wine. It's not illegal here," Yuri said defensively. "I'm old enough to drink alcohol in Austria. Want to tr…" he offered the chalice to Otabek, but saw that he'd drained the cup.

Otabek took it regardless and sniffed at it. "This doesn't smell like wine. Who gave you this?"

"One of the waiters,  _duh_. And how would you know what wine smells like?" Yuri asked defensively. "Aren't you technically too young to drink."

Otabek looked into the chalice for a long moment before reaching past Yuri and setting it down on the buffet table. He looked around the party. "This doesn't look like fun. Should we go do something else?"

"My thoughts exactly," Yuri said. He stood up, but the room suddenly started spinning and he stumbled slightly. Otabek quickly caught him, and grabbed his chin and looked down into Yuri's face. His stoic face darkened slightly. "On second thought, I'm taking you back to your room."

"I'm fine, real—"

" _Yuri_." Otabek's voice turned stern. "I'm taking you back to your room. Where's your cell phone?"

Yuri gave it to him without really thinking about it. Otabek flipped it open, but paused briefly. He grabbed the chalice back off the table as he steered Yuri out of the banquet hall and towards the elevators. "I didn't see Yakov in there but I'm going to call him and tell him you drank—"

"Oh come on, don't do that!" but shouting made Yuri dizzier and he leaned against Otabek for support. "I'm f-fine—"

"No, you're not. I'm taking you upstairs before something serious happens." Otabek called Yakov on Yuri's phone as the entered one of the elevators. After a few moments he hung up. "He's not picking up."

"He's probably drunk somewhere. I saw him drinking to—" Yuri groaned and closed his eyes. He felt like throwing up. "…Okay. Okay, you're right. I don't feel fine."

"Don't worry, Yuri. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Otabek cursed in Kazakh. "He's still not picking up. Does Yakov normally not your answer calls?"

A cold knot of fear started forming in Yuri's stomach and he lowered his head. "I don't know."

"We'll leave it be for now. Let's just get you back to your room."

Yuri could only grumble an acknowledgement as the elevator doors opened on his floor.

* * *

Victor had made a reservation for the Presidential Suite. Yuuri had never seen a more luxurious hotel room than this. It looked like a posh studio apartment in Europe. He was afraid to ask Victor how much the room had cost him.

That was the furthest thing from Yuuri's mind however when he woke up the following morning. He groaned and rolled over onto his side in the massive bed he was sharing with Victor. In the darkness of the room he found his glasses and slipped them on as he looked for his cell phone. He looked at Victor over his shoulder, and saw the other man curled up on his side facing Yuuri, fast asleep. His head was covered by the comforter, but Yuuri heard the soft sounds of Victor's breathing and sighed heavily in relief.  _He's all right. That's good._

When Chris had prodded them to come up to his suite and have "fun", Victor suddenly had a dizzy spell and said he wasn't feeling good. While this got Yuuri out of being pressured to going up to Chris's suite and getting reacquainted with the stripper pole, he'd been very concerned for Victor. He didn't know if Victor had drunk too much alcohol, or if all the physical stress he's been putting on his body had finally caught up to him. Yuuri almost wanted to call for an ambulance, but Victor insisted that he only wanted to go to bed and sleep the sudden fatigue off.

_Will he be well enough to skate for the marathon? We're both scheduled to go on this afternoon—I'm on at three and Victor's on at four. Wait, what time is it?_

Yuuri found his cell phone, and groaned loudly when saw the time. It was 10:34 am. "Victor, I forgot to set the alarm!" he announced painfully. He scrubbed a hand over his face. "I'm so sorry! We need to get—"

An arm snaked around Yuuri's waist and he yelped as he was dragged back underneath the covers. His body instantly relaxed as Victor, now full awake, spooned against his neck. Victor's nose traced along the length of Yuuri's neck, and Yuuri shivered involuntarily. "You smell good."

The low, sexy hum of Victor's voice sent a warm jolt straight through Yuuri's body. He arched as Victor's hand found its way underneath his nightshirt and pressed against his abdomen as Victor began kissing the side of his neck. The motions were slow at first, then the kisses quickened and became frantic. Yuuri's eyes slid closed and he relaxed against the bed. "Victor." His voice was low and pleading. "Victor, we shouldn't…" his body betrayed his words by melting into Victor's arms, and his hand reached back to rub Victor's nape encouragingly. Yuuri tried to formulate clear thoughts, even while the rest of his body was otherwise occupied. "Victor, wait—the charity skate. M-My skate costume has an open coll—an open collar. Don't give me any hickeys, please—"

But Victor didn't stop kissing his neck, and he was making soft and desperate noises that made Yuuri's body hum with arousal. But he forced himself under control and pulled himself forward, out of Victor's arms, and he turned around to face him. "T-That's enough, Victor, we have to—"

Yuuri gasped audibly, and scrambled backwards to the edge of the bed. Victor's eyes were closed, but his mouth was open in his usual smile. But—But from the open smile Yuuri saw a pair of long, extended fangs from Victor's upper row of teeth, extended down to his bottom lip.

Yuuri stared for a long moment of silence before bursting into hysterical laughter.

"What's the matter?" Victor asked him, but Yuuri couldn't stop laughing. He slapped his knee and leaned forward as he laughed. "Oh—Oh, that's hilarious! You almost got me, Victor!"

"What do you mean?"

"T-The fangs! The vampire fangs!" Yuuri gestured to them as he sat up. He wiped at his eyes with the heel of his hand. "This is a Halloween prank, isn't it? But wow, they look so cool! It thought they were…real." Yuuri trailed off slowly as he watched the fangs retreat back up into Victor's mouth. He blinked several times.  _What?_

Victor sat up fully and opened his eyes. "Yuuri, I don't know what you're talking ab—"

"Victor!" Yuuri shouted in alarm. He scrambled backwards off the bed and hit the floor hard. His hip stung from the landing, but he didn't pay attention to it as he gaped at Victor. "Your eyes…Your eyes!"

Victor's beautiful blue eyes were gone. Instead the eyes that stared back at Yuuri shined red like rubies. Yuuri's breathing became harsh and ragged as he hesitantly stood up. "W-What's going on? What happened to you?"

"Yuuri, you're starting to scare me," Victor said, keeping his tone low and calm. He paused, and frowned to himself. "My mouth feels funny, and I sound funny."

"Victor, look in the mirror!" Yuuri gestured wildly to their suite bathroom. "You have vampire fangs! Your eyes are red! You—You look like a vampire!"

Victor looked perplexed by what Yuuri was saying. He reached up and stuck a finger into his mouth, and hissed sharply. He pulled it out, and Yuuri saw that he'd cut himself on his fangs. Victor looked at the bleeding finger for a long moment of silence before he licked at the blood. Yuuri's eye widened when he saw the cut heal with the simple swipe of his tongue.

"Well…this is strange," Victor observed.

Yuuri almost fell over. "T-That's all you have to say?!"

Victor shrugged. "What else should I say?"

Yuuri was about to answer, but a loud pounding on their suite door startled them. Yuuri turned towards the door, but screamed when it suddenly burst open. Several individuals that Yuuri recognized as being event organizers and hotel staff stormed into the bedroom. Yuuri raised his hands but looked towards Victor. Victor for his part looked unperturbed by the invasion of people.

"Ah!" someone shouted, pointing to Victor. "He's infected!"

"Infected?" Yuuri and Victor echoed.

"This is bad!" another person spoke up. " _Victor Nikiforov_  was infected! This will cause a scandal!"

"This already  _is_  a scandal!" another person shouted. "It could not possibly get any worse than this!"

"Can someone please explain to us what's going on?!" Yuuri demanded.

One of the men grabbed Yuuri's chin and twisted his head from side to side. Then he grabbed both of Yuuri's wrists and turned them so that they were facing up. "This one's clean."

"Good." Another person stepped forward. It was an older man, close to Yakov's age. "Both of you will need to come with us. We have a…situation."


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

_What? What's going on? Who are you people? What's wrong with Victor?_

All of these questions rattled around in Yuuri's head, but the only sound that came out of his mouth was choking noises. It was Victor who ultimately responded to the intruders. "You said that I'm infected. What's wrong with m—" he grunted and winced and pressed a hand over his mouth.

"Victor, are you okay?!" Yuuri tried to reach for him but was startled when someone shouted, "Stand back!"

The older man stood at the foot of the bed in front of Victor, his expression hard. His hair was snow-white and disheveled on his head. His complexion was pale but he looked strong regardless. His face was marred with age lines, but his dark eyes held strength and authority. "You've been turned into a vampire."

Yuuri exclaimed in shock, and he looked at Victor. Victor for his part looked surprisingly calm. He lowered his hand, and Yuuri flinched when he saw blood on his fingers. "…Ah. That explains a lot."

"You're not used to your vampire teeth," the older man told him bluntly. "The fangs most likely cut your bottom lip. But your saliva has healing antigens in it, so it should not bother you."

Victor carefully licked his own bottom lip, and grabbed some tissues for the bedside table to wipe his hands. Yuuri frantically looked between Victor and the older man. He didn't pay any attention to the other people in the room—this individual clearly had the authority. He wanted to say something, to voice one of the millions of questions flooding his mind. But he still couldn't form words.

Then Victor smiled, and Yuuri flinched. This smile was a smile that hid all of Victor's emotions. "So, what happens now? Is this the part where you drive a stake into my heart?"

"You can't!" Yuuri shouted. He tried to rush to Victor's side but was forcibly restrained by two men. He struggled violently, kicking out with his legs. "Get away from him! I won't let you harm him!"

"Luckily for you, it will most likely not come to that," the older man said, ignoring Yuuri and keeping his eyes on Victor. "We're leaving now so get dressed. We've already gathered the rest of the skaters at  _Albert Schultz Eishalle_."

Albert Schultz Eishalle was the arena where the charity event was being held, in Halle 3. But Yuuri didn't know the second part of what he'd said as he pulled himself free. "Wait, what? What do you mean "other skaters"?!"

The older man sighed, clearly growing impatient with them. "You're not the only one who was turned. We were lucky though, and have all the freshly turned vampires gathered in the same place. You're the last one. Now, let's go."

"Please allow us a moment to get dressed," Victor said, nonchalantly climbing out of bed. Yuuri was positively stunned by how calm he was. "Yuuri and I also need to get our gear."

"Gear?" Yuuri asked.

Victor smiled at him, but it was not a comforting smile. "We have a charity event to compete in, Yuuri. I don't intend to let a sudden bout of vampirism stop me from performing."

Yuuri felt his jaw drop as he gaped at Victor. "A-Are we really going to perform at a time like this?!"

"I don't see why not."

Silence filled the room before the older man sighed painfully, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We'll discuss this when we reach the arena. But put sunglasses on or else you'll scare the people around you."

They got dressed, gathered their gear, and Victor slipped on a pair of expensive sunglasses. Yuuri wanted to give him a hug, or touch him, or do  _something_. Left momentarily alone, Yuuri took an opportunity and came up behind Victor while he was packing his athletic bag. Yuuri grabbed his chin and turned it up, and he leaned down to kiss Victor on the mouth. But as his head descended, Victor's graceful fingers reached up and pressed against Yuuri's mouth.

"Yuuri," Victor said softly, shaking his head at him. "Don't. I'm cutting my own mouth with my fangs, I don't want the same to happen to you."

Yuuri was taken aback. He'd wanted to show some affection for Victor, to remind him that he was there with him. But he couldn't kiss him?

"Are you both ready now?" the older man came back into the room before Yuuri could say anything.

"We are," Victor said, answering for them both as he stood up. His smile didn't waver as they were escorted out of their suite, but Yuuri couldn't help but frown deeply as he followed with his head hanging low.

* * *

Yuuri didn't think there could be anything more surprising than waking up to find his boyfriend had inexplicably been turned into a vampire. He was wrong.

It was overcast outside, but Yuuri had been frightened when they were loaded into a van and left Meliá Vienna. Since a lot of vampire lore indicated that sunlight killed vampires, Yuuri was afraid the same thing would happen to Victor. So he surprised that the sun did not immediately smite Victor, nor did his skin sizzle. But daylight did visibly weaken Victor, and he looked to be squinting painfully behind his sunglasses as though he were in direct, unshaded sunlight. Yuuri wanted to assist Victor, but their escort kept a distance between them—no doubt for Yuuri's safety.

When they arrived at Albert Schultz Eishalle, Yuuri was stunned to discover that the charity skate was still in-process. The parking lot was jammed beyond capacity with cars, and he noted that traffic had come to a standstill in front of the arena. Dozens of police officers had put up blockades and were physically restraining people from getting anywhere near the arena. Their vehicle was let through, and the eager crowd tried to swarm the van, pounding on the windows and shouting in various languages.

_What's going on?_ Yuuri wondered, but the question was still unanswered from the last time he'd asked and so he didn't ask again.

When they finally got inside, Yuuri could hear the music blaring from Halle 3, along with cheers. They were directed towards a board room, but Yuuri did a double-take at what he saw outside of Halle 3. "E-EH?!"

It was a huge neon sign board displaying the name of the charity that were marathon-skating for, and underneath that was the pledge goal and current donation count. The pledge goal for this charity event had been ambitious at two million Euros.

The donation count, however, showed a raised sum of  _fifty million Euros_.

"W-W-W-W…" Yuuri gestured to the sign board with a trembling hand. "Is this real?! Fifty million Euros has been raised so far?! B-But the marathon started just four hours ago! There's still twelve hours left! I-I've never seen so much money be raised in such a short period of time!"

"You can thank the vampires for that," said a voice behind him impatiently. "Let's get going."

"Well, there's something good that's happened today," Victor said blithely.

They were escorted into the board room, and were quickly separated to opposite sides of the room. Victor was directed to sit with a group of people who were also wearing sunglasses, and Yuuri was directed over to a larger group of people. He knew they were skaters and coachers. Victor saw down with the other group of two dozen skaters, and Yuuri knew that they had been turned into vampires as well. He didn't recognize some of them but he saw the Crispino siblings—both of whom looked upset, JJ—who had his chin and his hands looking at the people in suits intently, Seung-Gil—who was scowling, Phichit—who shouted a greeting to Yuuri and waved cheerfully, and even Yakov and Yurio. Yakov had his arms folded over his chest and looked like he was glowering, and Yurio was visibly seething around the towel he was pressing to his mouth—he'd no doubt cut himself on his own vampire fangs. Out of the corner of Yuuri's eye he saw Chris sitting apart from both groups, although he was also wearing sunglasses and was leaning on his boyfriend whispering something. Yuuri took a seat beside Otabek on the other side of the room, swallowing thickly. Otabek for his part had his arms folded over his chest and was frowning, which was his usual expression but he looked especially upset today.

"Now then," the older man said, surveying the room. "You all speak English, yes?" the infected skaters answered affirmative. "Good. You're all aware of what's going on—"

"Who the hell are you exactly?!" Yurio snapped, gesturing at the man with his towel. "And how do you know what's going on?!"

The older man was silent for a long moment before he sighed irritably. "I was getting to that. I abandoned my given name a long time ago, but you all may call me Stregoni Benefici."

" _Stregoni Benefici!_ " Michele and Sara shouted in unison. They both jumped to their feet, and Michele even grabbed Benefici's hand and shook it furiously. "I-It's an honor!"

"This is incredible!" Sara squealed, clapping her hands. "A real  _Stregoni Benefici_! I thought you were a myth!"

"I thought  _vampires_  were a myth," Yakov grumbled.

"Excuse me," Victor said politely, raising his hand. "But what is the significance of your name, Mr. Benefici?"

"He's a vampire hunter!" Michele said, clearly offended by Victor's question. "The Stregoni Benefici are a legendary group of Italian vampire hunters who live to kill vampires!"

"A-Are you a vampire too? Or a  _dhampir_?" Sara asked Benefici. "There's so many different legends about you! Is it true that you can only feed on other vampires? Or are you human?"

"Here, can I get a selfie with you?" Phichit asked Benefici, pulling out his phone.

"Uh,  _hello_?!" Yuri snapped, jumping to his feet. He gestured to Benefici again. "If this asshole is a vampire hunter, then we're all dead meat!"

"How  _dare_ you refer to him that way!" Michele hollered at Yuri.

"But Yuri does bring up a good point," Chris added. It sounded as though the action of speaking was causing him great pain. "If this man is a legendary vampire hunter, then being brought here might be a giant trap."

The mood grew even more sour throughout the room. Even the Crispino siblings looked fearful all of a sudden. Yuuri looked between Benefici and Victor, wondering if he could move fast enough to protect Victor from the other man.

"If I might be allowed to explain," Benefici said, his patience clearly run thin. "My goal here isn't to kill any of you. You are all victims of a vampire."

"But how did we turn?" Victor asked. "I drank alcohol last night, but I'm fairly certain I wasn't bitten by a vampire. Yuuri, did a vampire bite me?" he craned his neck to look at Yuuri

"No," Yuuri said stiffly.

"I wasn't bitten either," Yakov said. "Nor do I see the point in a vampire targeting  _me_. I'm just a coach, and I'm a man in his seventies."

"Sara and I weren't bit either," Michele said carefully. "A-And I believe we only had one glass of wine."

"You did!" Emil called out from the other side of the room, waving cheerfully.

"This vampire cannot turn you with a vampire bite," Benefici said. "And you all in turn cannot turn anyone with a bite. This vampire tricked you into drinking his or her blood. The vampire's goal is most likely to expand their coven, and I'm certain they thought that turning professional athletes into vampires would hasten their goal. My goal is to find that vampire and kill them."

"But how does that help us?" another skater spoke up. "We're stuck like this forever, right?"

"As it stands right now,  _sí_ ," Benefici said. "All of you are stuck at the ages you are now."

Yuri's face fell behind his sunglasses. " _C…Chto_?!"

"None of you will age," Benefici reaffirmed. "Your bodies are frozen in time from the moment you drank that vampire's blood. And because you are all vampires, you also hunger for blood. And a stake to your heart, or decapitation, are the only things that can kill you."

"If that's the case," Mila Babicheva said suddenly, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Does that mean I can do  _this_  forever?" she suddenly raced over to the vampire group, grabbed Yuri by the front of his coat, and lifted him straight over her head.

" _Net_!" Yuri shouted in Russian. His sunglasses flew off, and his red eyes were glaring and dangerous. But the danger in his expression was dimmed severely by his position over Mila's head. " _POLOZHI MENYA, SUKA_!"

" _o moy Bog_ ," Yakov grumbled, shaking his head while the rest of the room laughed.

Benefici, unsurprisingly, wasn't laughing. "I would recommend putting him down. He has not fed yet, and it's not wise to make a hungry vampire irritable."

"Oh, but he's always irritated," Mila said, but she set Yuri down and hurried back across the room with a loud laugh. Yuri cursed violently in Russian and snatched his sunglasses from the floor before sitting back down

"What about sunlight?" JJ asked around a laugh, bringing the conversation back to topic.

"We got here just fine, didn't we?" someone else pointed out.

"Sunlight will weaken your body considerably but it cannot kill you," Benefici said. "You also do not need to sleep in coffins, nor will garlic affect you. But you  _do_  require an invitation to enter a private residence. However, all of this should only be temporarily."

"Really?" Yuuri found himself asking.

"The vampire who turned you all is your sire. Once we kill them, all of you will return to human form."

Exclamations of relief (and disappointment?) filled the room. Yuuri pressed a hand over his heart and let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.  _So Victor won't be this way forever. What a relief!_

"But we need to find the vampire fast," Benefici said. "Because all of you are racing against the clock as well."

"How so?" Phichit asked.

"Because you are safe to turn back into humans so long as you don't do one thing—you cannot kill anyone."

The vampire group stared blankly at him. Benefici continued. "You are technically underworld monsters now, but your human soul is still bound to your body. Feeding on a willing prey will not forfeit your soul to darkness. But if you kill anyone when you feed, then you're damned. You lose your soul, and you will remain a monster forever—or until I kill you, because I  _will_  kill you if that happens."

At that moment more people entered the room, carrying insulated foam containers. "You will each get three pints of blood per day. You can decide on your own when to use them. But I must warn you that these three packets will most likely not be enough for your hunger. But as I said, you can feed off a human so long as you don't kill them."

"If three pints isn't enough, then why only give us three?" someone asked.

"Because this is donated blood," Benefici said sharply. "And we're not going to monopolize donated blood in the middle of a blood shortage. So make do with what you get. You're all adults, you'll manage."

Yuri scoffed and put his arms behind his head. "I'm not drinking another person's blood. That's disgusting."

Yakov looked ready to yell at Yuri for his attitude, but Benefici reached out and grabbed Yuri's face tight in his hand. Yuuri felt Otabek go tense beside him.

"Tell me, boy," Benefici said to Yuri. "Do you know what hunger is?"

Yuri replied, but Benefici's grip on his face made his words incomprehensible. "Let me tell you what will happen to you if you don't feed. You'll starve. The hunger a starving vampire feels is beyond anything you could ever imagine. Your mind and body will weaken, and you feel pain so intense that it will rob you of breath. You cannot go without blood. If you do not drink blood, you will die of starvation. And that's the  _best_  case scenario—If you don't die, you'll be driven to madness and you will kill and kill and kill until your hunger is sated." He paused briefly before finishing, "And in your state of madness, the hunger may  _never_  be sated. So you're going to drink blood, boy. If that means force-feeding it to you, we will do it."

Yakov stood up and took off his sunglasses to glare fully at Benefici with red eyes. "I'm not going to sit here and let you manhandle him like this. Let him go right now."

Benefici glanced at him impassively. "Am I supposed to be intimidated by you, punk?"

Yuuri's brow rose at hearing someone call  _Yakov_  punk, but he tensed when he saw Victor stand up as well. Otabek was also rising out of his seat when Benefici abruptly let Yuri go. "You're all going to drink blood and be safe about it, or there will be deadly consequences. Understood?"

The tension left the room in that instant. "Come up and drink a pint now."

"I'll do it after my routine," Yuri said quickly, visibly furious with how Benefici had treated him. He unzipped his coat as he stood. "It's just about 11:30, that's when I'm supposed to be on the ice."

"No, you're drinking it now and you're going to do it in front of me," Benefici snapped, shoving a packet at Yuri. " _Then_  you can go and do your routine."

"W-Wait, hold on a second!" Yuuri said, standing up. "Are we  _really_ going to continue the marathon-skate?! People are going to know that some of the skaters were turned into vampires! I would think you guys would want to keep this a secret!"

"It  _was_  our intention to keep a lid on this," Benefici said darkly. "But Mr. Chulanont made that impossible."

"Huh?" Yuuri looked over to Phichit. "What does he mean?"

But the question was answered for him when a video suddenly came up on the projection screen. It showed a hotel room. A hotel room at  _Meliá Vienna_.

" _Look! Everyone, I have something to show you!"_  Phichit's excited voice filled the room from as the video (clearly filmed from his cell phone) raced into the bathroom. The light was flicked on, and Phichit's reflection was shown on the mirror. A reflection that showed that Phichit had red eyes, vampire fangs…and a  _transparent body_.

" _I'm see-through!"_  video-Phichit pointed out the obvious, his expression full of excitement. He held his hand in front of his face, and his face visible through his hand.  _"Isn't this incredible?!"_  He ducked out of frame out the bathroom door for a moment before quickly reappearing in front of the mirror. He did this a few more times, laughing like an excited child. Then he abruptly left the bathroom.  _"And that's not the coolest part! Guang-Hong!"_

Guang-Hong was then shown sprawled on his stomach on the couch. It looked like he was playing a game on his cell phone.  _"A-Ah, what—"_

" _Here, Guang-Hong! I'm going to show them_ _ **that**_ _!"_  Phichit grabbed Guang-Hong's wrist and pulled his hand up. His display of strength clearly took the Chinese figure-skater off-guard because he cried out in shock when Phichit practically lifted him off the couch. Phichit opened his mouth slightly as he pointed his cell phone at his own face.  _"Here, watch this!"_

Phichit rubbed the tip of Guang-Hong's forefinger up and down one fang. The slight touch caused Phichit's fangs to extend right on camera. It reminded Yuuri of how Victor's fangs had extended when he kissed Yuuri's neck and he shivered involuntarily.

" _Isn't this awesome, everyone?! Do you guys know what this means?! I'm a vampire!"_ Phichit was literally shaking with excitement while Guang-Hong was blushing and looked slightly alarmed. _"I'm a_ _ **real vampire**_ _!"_

Benefici abruptly clicked off the video. "Within one hour that video was viewed 10 million times on YouTube."

" _C̄hạn k̄hxthos̄ʹ_!" Phichit laughed, rubbing at the back of his head. "I was just so surprised that I couldn't help but film myself and put it online!"

"Our website has been overwhelmed ever since the video went up," one of the organizers said. "Our bandwidth wasn't prepared for so many viewers, and the website keeps crashing."

"You've also received so many donations because the vampires who have already taken to the ice to skate hypnotized both the live and internet audience with their vampire presence," Benefici pointed out.

" _I_  raised 2 million Euros after my skate!" Phichit said proudly.

"But that doesn't matter. What matters is stopping the vampirism from spreading, and drawing out the vampire who infected all of you. So until further notice, none of you are allowed to leave Vienna."

"Wait, what?!" JJ shouted, jumping to his feet. "You're  _quarantining_ us?!"

"This needs to be contained," Benefici told him curtly. "And we need to keep all of you who were turned together until your vampirism can be reversed. So after this event you're all going to be confined to the Meliá Vienna, and we'll be seizing all of your passports until you return to being humans. Or unless you damn yourselves by killing a human prey, wherein that case you will be killed."

"I can't stay here!" JJ protested. "Skate Canada is in two days! I have to be in Saskatchewan to compete in that!"

"Unless we're able to kill the head vampire before Skate Canada, you're not allowed to go."

"Hey,  _excuse me_!" JJ growled. An inhuman hiss breathed out through his clenched, fanged teeth. "But if I don't compete in Skate Canada, then I'm out of the Grand Prix series! I won't have a good standing for my place at the Olympics! I  _have_  to be there!"

"Sucks to be you," Yuri said, clearly enjoying this.

"I'm also competing in Skate Canada," Seung-Gil said darkly, slowly rising to his feet. "I'm not going to miss it. I'm leaving." His tone brokered no compromise.

"Okay, let's make something clear right now," Benefici said, his tone turning harsh. "Neither of you are leaving.  _Nobody_  who was turned into a vampire is leaving. Your home countries have been told of your condition, and they have put a travel ban on  _all_ of you. And if you  _try_  to leave, I will see to you personally. Don't worry—we have more than enough stakes for all of you. Now both of you sit down and shut up."

Seung-Gil was still visibly furious but stiffly sat down. JJ however looked like he was on the verge of tears and collapsed into his seat. "I'm going to miss Skate Canada?  _Me_?" Yuri laughed at him remorselessly, earning an elbow jab from Yakov.

"Hey, I'm competing in Skate Canada too," Emil said, raising his hand. "Am I also in quarantine?"

"You're not infected, so no," Benefici said. "You're free to go."

" _Hurá_!" Emil cheered. He quickly jumped to his feet. "In that case, I have a flight I need to catch! Good luck with your vampirism, Mickey! Don't forget to cheer for me!"

Both JJ and Michele gaped after Emil as he ran out of the board-room. JJ hung his head and whimpered.

"The blood is here, so get up and drink it," Benefici said. "None of you are leaving this room until you do."

The freshly-turned vampires all reluctantly took their first pint of blood. Most of them poured them into cups, other just tore open the bags and drank it from the bag. Yuri plugged his nose while he drank his pint, although he also gagged violently while drinking it.

Yuuri watched Victor drink his blood in a surprisingly well-rounded manner before speaking. "A-Ah, excuse me Mr. Benefici."

Benefici looked towards him. "How long do you anticipate it will take to draw out the vampire who caused all of this?"

"Hopefully a few days," Benefici said. "But it might take months."

" _Months_?!" Yuuri exclaimed. "A-Are you serious?! Do you expect us to put our lives on hold for this?!"

" _Sí_ , I do," Benefici said bluntly. "I'm not going to let this spread. So until they return to normal, they're not leaving."

" _Blyad'!_ " Yuri hollered, clutching at his chin. Yakov hurried over to him. " _Der'mo_ , it spilled! Did I get blood on my costume?!"

Yuuri sighed heavily and rubbed a hand over his face. He felt like he was stuck in a nightmare.  _So…vampires are real. Victor was turned into a vampire, and so was Yurio, Phichit, Coach Yakov, and several other people. And if they don't find the vampire who caused this, then none of them can leave Vienna. What am I supposed to do? How could this have happened to me?_

He shook his head furiously.  _No, stop it Yuuri! You're not the only person affected by this! Hell, you weren't even turned! You need to be strong for Victor! You need to make this easier for him!_ He looked up then and saw Victor was staring at him. His was still wearing sunglasses, but he was wearing a worried frown. Yuuri forced a smile and waved reassuringly to him.  _It's fine. It will be fine. We'll get through this. We'll find the vampire who did this and Victor will return to normal. He'll compete in Cup of China, I'll compete in NHK, and we'll make it to the Grand Prix Final. Everything will be okay._

He repeated that final sentence to himself over and over again in order to make it come true.

* * *

Yuri Plisetsky was at the rink ready to take over at precisely 11:30. Luckily no blood had dripped onto his a sequined white and yellow edged shirt or yellow pants. Lilia had deliberately brushed his bangs into his face to hide his red eyes. But once the previous skater was finished and left the ice, Yuri quickly pushed the hair out of his face before skating out into the center of the ice.

Yuuri sat alone in the stands. He'd wanted to be with Victor, or to at least watch Yuri's routine with Victor, but Benefici refused to allow any of the vampires out of the board room unless they were skating. He also made a point that all of the vampires would be leaving together, and that they would allow stay until the last vampire performed. Thankfully Victor was the last vampire scheduled to perform, so Yuuri knew they would be able to leave around 4:30.

Yuri took his position on the ice. Yuuri knew the moment the crowd realized that Yuri had been turned into the vampire when screams of excitement filled the arena and people began pointing. Yuri Angels were screaming the loudest to the northwest of Yuuri, holding up their banners and shouting in Russian. Yuuri wasn't quite fluent in Russian yet, but he knew the girls were positively thrilled at the fact that their precious Yuratchka had become a blood-sucking fiend. A few rows ahead to the northeast he saw Otabek, who was watching his closest friend on the ice with his usual stoic expression.

Then the music started, and Yuuri recognized the music from all the previous practices. It was Yuri's free skate routine for the season and the Olympics, designed to fit his chosen theme of "rebellion". The minute he launched into his step-sequence, the entire arena went dead silent. The grace that the Younger-Yuri displayed was unlike anything Yuuri had seen the previous times he'd witnessed Yuri practiced this routine. Then came the first jump—a Triple-Lutz/Double-Toe combination. Yuri spun into the jump as though he were flying, and flawlessly nailed the landings.

Yuuri jumped up and clapped and cheered for Yuri, and remained standing when Yuri jumped into a sit-spin. From there he spun into another step-sequence, followed by two consecutive jumps, both of them Quadruple Loops, and both of them were flawless. He looked like he was floating across the ice. "All right, Yurio!" Yuuri cheered, clapping his hands. Suddenly, he then became unsettled by his surroundings.

No one else was cheering. It was so silent in the arena that Yuuri could hear the impact of Yuri's skates on the ice even over the music. He awkwardly sat down and looked at the other audience members. Their faces were frozen in blank expressions, eyes wide and lips slightly parted. Yuuri craned his neck and looked at everyone surrounding him. Every single person of all ages had the exact same expression on their faces. Not even Yuri Angels were cheering for Yuri.

_What's going on? Why are they reacting this way to Yurio's performance?_

"… _the vampires who have already taken to the ice to skate hypnotized both the live and internet audience with their vampire presence."_

Realization dawned on Yuuri, and his head snapped back towards the ice.  _K-Kami-sama! Yurio hypnotized the audience with his vampire influence! D-Did he do this on purpose?!_

Yuri landed another flawless quad, this time a Salchow, and Yuuri thought he heard Yuri yell out a curse word in Russian. He relaxed slightly.  _No. No, he's upset that no one's reacting to his performance. He didn't do this on purpose. But…But why am_ _ **I**_ _not affected?_ He looked towards Otabek to see if the other skater was also under Yuri's unintentional thrall. Otabek was looking at the people around him, frowning with confusion. He saw Yuuri looking at him, and they both shared the same puzzled expression.  _…Okay, he's not affected either. But how come we didn't fall under Yurio's influence?_

Yuri finished his routine with a layback spin and struck a dynamic pose, but Yuuri saw he was puffing with rage. The moment he stopped, and the moment the music stopped, Halle 3 exploded in cheers and screams. Everyone stood up and hollered for Yuri, clapping and stomping their feet. The obligatory gifts were thrown out onto the ice, but Yuuri blinked with shock when he saw  _money_  being thrown out onto the ice as well. Yuri calmed down significantly from this reaction and bowed to the crowd before launching into his next sequence—a shorter sequence that was just freestyle and meant to pad along the time to gain pledges. He didn't even look winded.

Later, when Yuuri left to go check on Victor, He saw that the donation board was now at  _seventy million Euros._

* * *

By the time Yuuri was ready to take the ice at 3 o'clock, the marathon-skate had raised almost two hundred million Euros. He saw the donation number rapidly climb though as he headed back into Halle 3, and he knew it was because Sara Crispino was on the ice (and her vampire allure probably helped the donation climb considerably).

"You'll be all right," Victor reassured him, helping Yuuri take off his jacket. He was wearing an open-collar sequined blue shirt and black skating pants "This is just an exhibition. Don't overexert yourself."

They had allowed Victor to come because of the fact that he was Yuuri's coach and had co-choreographed Yuuri's free skate with Yuuri, to fit Yuuri's chosen theme of, "perseverance". It was the first time they'd been near each other since they woke up that morning, but they were being watched carefully in case Victor did anything. The pint of blood he had drunk had given Victor strength that Yuuri hadn't noticed he'd been lacking. Yuuri swallowed thickly. "Victor, I—"

"Yuuri." Victor gently interrupted him, cupping his chin in his hand. He was smiling, but it was the same smile he'd been wearing for hours. "It's almost time. Just relax, and have fun out there."

Yuuri didn't know how he could possibly have fun at a time like this, but he snapped to attention as Sara skated off the ice to explosive cheers. She was dressed in a mint-colored fountain dress and she grinned toothily at them. Yuuri tried not to wince at seeing her fangs. " _Buona fortuna!_ "

Yuuri nodded stiffly to her and took to the ice without another word to Victor. He knew there was no way his set would bring in as much donation money as Yuri or Sara, but he would still try. He did breathing exercises to keep himself calm, and he closed his eyes.  _Keep your head in the game. This is for a good cause, and Victor is not going to be a vampire forever. This is only temporary_

The music started, and Yuuri quickly launched into a serpentine step sequence. He got obligatory cheers for the sequence and readied his first jump, which would be a Quadruple Toeloop, followed by a Triple Lutz. He held his breath and launched into the jump.  _One, two, three, fo—_

His toe caught the ice and he fell. The audience groaned, but Yuuri barely felt the sting of the landing and picked himself back up. He successfully executed his Triple Lutz and then spun into a camel spin.  _It's okay, it's fine. I just won't let it happen again._

He followed his spin with another step sequence before launching into a Salchow throw. He made the landing but lost his balance and stumbled. " _Kuso!_ " he grunted to himself, covering up the stumble with another step sequence.  _Focus, Yuuri! This is a routine that both you and Victor created! You want to win the Grand Prix with this routine! You want to compete in the Olympics with this routine! Get your head in the game! Make Victor proud, and don't make him worry about you! He has plenty to worry about as it is!_

He couldn't bring himself to look over at where Victor was standing, but thankfully the rest of the routine went off without a hitch. His last quad was Victor's signature, a Quadruple Flip. He desperately did not want to screw this up, and he focused his mind as his body caught momentum and he launched himself into the air.  _One, two, three, four—YES!_  He made the landing to thunderous cheers and applause and he laughed in relief. He ended the routine with a final step sequence and posed in a kneel on one knee, right hand extended out as though offering a dance…or a wedding proposal. And it was directed towards Victor

Yuuri was pleased by the enthusiastic cheers and waved to the crowd. He finally looked towards Victor and he was pleased to see Victor cheering. Gifts were thrown out onto the ice, and Yuuri waited patiently for them to be cleared away before starting the next part of his sequence.

Three minutes later he was panting heavily as he skated off the ice. He stepped off the ice, but his legs were unsteady. Before he tumbled over though he was enveloped in a hug. "That was wonderful! You had a couple of slipups, but you looked beautiful Yuuri!"

Yuuri laughed as Victor proceeded to rattle off various things he could do to improve the performance before NHK. He didn't care about the criticism—Victor was hugging him and acting like normal. For a moment he forgot about the terrible circumstances they were in and just enjoyed being held.

But…

Victor suddenly stiffened, and quickly let Yuuri go. "A-Ah,  _Sozhaleyu_."

"Just be more careful," a voice behind them lectured, but Yuuri barely heard it as he looked at Victor with confusion.  _I don't get it. Why is he afraid to touch me? He just fed, didn't he?_

It was an abnormal feeling, walking away from an ice-skating rink without Victor clinging to him. They were closely escorted out of Halle 3, Victor's every movement being watched. It was upsetting to Yuuri that it was like this. So upsetting that when he saw the donation board, and realized that his set netted only ten-thousand Euros in donations, he was indifferent to it.

* * *

One hour later, it was Victor's turn. Halle 3 buzzed with excitement, and Yuuri heard the event organizers shouting with alarm over the server—so many people were on the website to watch Victor skate that they were risking another crash.

Yuuri stood by while Victor shrugged off his jacket. He was wearing a sequined black shirt with bishop sleeves and a magenta vest, and black crushed velvet skating pants. He casually fixed his wrist cuff and winked at Yuuri. "Please cheer for me."

"O-Of course I will!" Yuuri sputtered, nodding. They had allowed him to come out with Victor but advised him to keep his distance because of the amount of time that had elapsed since Victor had last drank blood. Victor reassured everyone that he was fine though, and that he would "eat" once he got back to the hotel.

_I'll be glad when this is over with. I want to get him away from here so that he can relax. So that we can both relax._

Victor took to the ice, and blew a kiss at Yuuri over his shoulder. He took position at the center of the ice, and Yuuri knew by his pose that he was going to perform his free skate. As Victor had co-choreographed Yuuri's free skate, Yuuri had co-choreographed Victor's free skate, designed to fit his theme of "heart". The theme always made Yuuri blush, especially since both the short program and free skate began with Victor either looking at Yuuri—or in the case of the free skate—reaching out a hand to Yuuri longingly. Normally he could meet Victor's gaze when he made his pose, but Yuuri couldn't help but flinch when he saw those alien vampire eyes staring back at him.

The music started, and…Yuuri felt like the air had been punched out of his lungs. Victor wasn't beautiful—he was positively  _mesmerizing_. He glided into a step sequence with such beauty and grace that Yuuri felt well up in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away as Victor launched into his first jump—a Quadruple Axel. The jump and the spin was breathtaking, and his landing was smooth and perfect. But the landing was but a brief pause as Victor jumped into another Quadruple Axel and  _then_  his signature Quadruple Flip!  _THREE quads in a row?!_  Yuuri thought with amazement.  _How did he do three quads in a row?! I've never seen him do three quads in a row! …Well, he's a vampire so of_ _ **course**_ _it's possible._ He remembered to cheer then and clapped his hands. "Nice, Victor!"

The arena was otherwise as silent as it was when Yuri performed, but unlike Yurio's performance Yuuri could almost  _see_  the vampire allure exuding from Victor. It was unintentional, but Yuuri could feel the power humming from Victor's body. Everyone was enraptured…and Yuuri could only imagine what the routine was doing to the people online.

Victor spun out of a flying sit spin and gestured dramatically. It was part of the routine, but his gesture happened to be towards Yuuri and Yuuri was unexpectedly hit with a dizzy spell. His vision swam as he took a couple steps back and pressed a hand to his face.  _W-What was that?!_ Yuuri looked towards Victor and saw the alarm in his boyfriend's face before he turned into another step sequence. A hand grabbed Yuuri's shoulder, and he glanced up. It was one of Benefici's men. "What's wrong? Did he do something to you?" he nodded towards Victor.

Panic welled up inside Yuuri and he blurted out, "D-Dehydrated! I-I'm dehydrated! I haven't had anything to drink since my routine!"

The man looked at Yuuri closely for a long moment of silence. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, of course I'm sure!" Yuuri snapped, shrugging off his hand. "Thank you for your concern, but I-I'll feel better after I drink some water!"

The man nodded to someone else. "Go get a bottle of water."

Yuuri furiously stomped to the rail and focused on Victor. He didn't know if Victor had done…something to him, but he didn't care. Whatever it was had clearly been an accident. The spell quickly dissipated, and Yuuri cheered for Victor. Victor landed another Quadruple Flip, and Yuuri's voice faltered. Victor's expression was full of pain, like he was on the verge of tears. The expression only made Yuuri clap harder and cheer louder.

A bottle of water was then thrust into his hands, and he quickly thanked the man before chugging it down to prove his point. He hadn't really been thirsty, but he didn't want them to think that Victor  _had_  something to him, even by accident.

" _Non è influenzato dal fascino del vampire_ ," a woman said behind Yuuri. " _Antonio ha affermato di non essere influenzato dalle altre performance dei vampiri._   _Perché?_ "

" _Benefici scoprirà, sono sicuro_ ," the man beside Yuuri said. Yuuri glared at the both of them, sensing that they were talking about him but doing so in Italian so Yuuri couldn't understand them.

Victor finished his free skate with a mirror pose of Yuuri's, except that he went down on his right knee instead of his left and he blew a kiss as his finish. Yuuri however noted that he did not direct this gesture at him. Whatever had happened to Yuuri when Victor gestured to him, Victor had noticed that it had caused a reaction.

The cheers that filled Halle 3 with Victor's finish were the loudest Yuuri had heard all day. People were openly crying through the cheers, and others emptied their wallets and threw their money at Victor, and Yuuri saw articles of clothing fly out onto the ice along with the gifts. Many fans tried to climb the barricade to get out onto the ice and reach Victor, and Yuuri bristled with alarm.

"Get him off the ice!" Benefici shouted, racing towards the ice. "Tell him his routine is over—we have a riot on our hands!"

"Victor!" Yuuri shouted, but his voice was drowned out over the screaming. Luckily, Victor did not start his next sequence and quickly skated back towards them. Unfortunately, the screams quickly erupted into shouts of outrage when the crowd realized that Victor's set was over.

"How was that?" Victor asked, his smile back in place on his face. He wasn't looking at Yuuri. Yuuri wanted to respond, and tell him how wonderful it was, but Benefici grabbed Victor by the arm. "We need to leave. The other vampires are on standby—we're going back to the hotel!"

"W-Wait, I'll come with you!" Yuuri offered, but Benefici shook his head at them. "We have a bus for the vampires only. They need to feed, so we're getting them back to Meliá Vienna as quickly as possible."

"W-Wait, what are  _we_ supposed to do?!" one of the organizers protested. "How do we control this crowd?!"

"I deal with vampires, not humans," Benefici told her curtly. " _You_ figure it out. Let's go!" He pulled Victor away, giving Yuuri no time to speak with him.

* * *

Yuuri didn't arrive back at Meliá Vienna until almost an hour later. Before leaving, he saw on the donation board that Victor's free skate alone had brought in  _one-hundred million Euros_ in donations. He gaped at the board for a long moment before the shouting from the rioting fans snapped him out of it and he hurried to get out of there. He didn't even stop to get changed and just left still in his skating costume. But he was mobbed when he left Albert Schultz Eishalle, and had to run for his life. By the time he reached his hotel his jacket had been torn up, but thankfully his skating costume was undamaged.

During this time, he'd tried repeatedly to call Victor's cell phone and even their hotel room, but he didn't get an answer on either line. Yuuri's panic only grew as he raced through the lobby and into one of the waiting elevators. Hotel security had their hands full with eagers fans and press trying to get into the Meliá Vienna to "see the vampires".

While in the elevator up to their Presidential Suite, Yuuri tried Victor's cell phone again. It went straight to voicemail, but instead of quickly hanging up Yuuri decided to try and leave a message. "Victor, it's me. I-I was just checking to see if you were all right, and—"

The elevator doors opened, but it wasn't Yuuri's floor. He paused in his voicemail and looked to see if anyone was going to come on. But the corridor was empty. He blinked with confusion over why the elevator stopped on this floor when the doors closed and it began to ascend once more. "Victor, I don't know what happened," he quickly said. "But I want you to know that I'm not angry. I'm proud of you, and I love you, a-and—we're going to get through this, okay?" Yuuri lowered his voice as tears stung his eyes. "I'm here with you, and we're going to get through this. I'll see you shortly. I love you." He repeated the final sentence in both Japanese and Russian before hanging up. He saw that he was about to reach his floor and wiped away his tears.  _Calm down, Yuuri. Don't let him see you cry. You're going to put on a smile and you're going to be pleasant. You're going to make this awful situation as painless as possible for Victor. You're going to be strong for him just like all the other times that he was strong for you._

Yuuri did breathing exercises as he reached his floor, and put on a cheerful disposition as the doors opened and he stepped out into the hallway. He reached into his pocket to find his cardkey, and casually swiped it to unlock the room. He pushed open the door, but paused on the threshold.

One of Victor's Louis Vuitton luggage bags was sitting in the entryway.

Yuuri stood there, mouth hanging open for a long moment, before coming to his senses. "V-Victor!" he stepped over the suitcase and entered the suite proper. "Victor, where are you?!"

"I'm in here, Yuuri," Victor called from the bedroom. Yuuri ran into the bedroom and stopped in the doorway. Victor had a Louis Vuitton suitcase open on the bed, and Victor was packing his clothes. "I was hoping that you wouldn't have to see this, but…I guess there's no way around it."

"W-W-W…" Yuuri couldn't form the word properly as he slowly entered the bedroom. He gestured at Victor. "W-What are you doing?"

Victor looked up and smiled. But it was a smile that sent a chill down Yuuri's spine. "I'm leaving, Yuuri."


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Victor's proclamation startled Yuuri deeply, and left him speechless. He gaped at Victor as the other man resumed packing his suitcase. It took a long moment for Yuuri to force the words out of his throat. "L…Leaving? Victor, where are we going?"

"Not "we", Yuuri.  _I'm_  going."

The familiar, horrible sensation began to burn its way from Yuuri's head, through his nose, and into his chest. He clenched his teeth, fighting the oncoming anxiety attack with all his internal strength. Tears stung his eyes and he breathed harshly through his nose.  _Get it together, get it together!_

Hands clasped his shoulders and Yuuri looked up. "Calm down," Victor told him. "Concentrate on your breathing, Yuuri."

Yuuri couldn't get used to seeing those ruby eyes staring at him from Victor's face. Victor was frowning, but Yuuri could almost see the outline of his fangs on his upper lip. Yuuri closed his eyes and did as he was told, focusing his mind on his breathing. It gradually evened out, and his stomach stopped churning so much, but his anxiety prickled on the edge of his senses. He wanted to speak, but the words choked in his throat once more.

"I don't mean to be vague," Victor told him, keeping his voice calm. "I'm doing this to protect you, Yuuri." He let go of Yuuri and resumed packing. Yuuri still felt the imprint of his hands on his shoulders. "I'm not going away. I'm simply moving to a different room on a different floor."

"I…" with his emotions under better control, Yuuri was able to speak again. "Y-You don't need to do that, Victor. I-I'm sure that—"

"Mr. Benefici rather strongly recommended that we separate ourselves from humans into different living quarters for now," Victor interrupted him. "I'm not the only one moving. Ms. Lilia is leaving the suite she'd been sharing with Coach Yakov and Yurio and moving into a separate room. This will make things less complicated for all of us."

"Victor I trust you!" Yuuri said, grabbing his arm. "I know what you're capable of, and I know you can't possibly hurt me!"

Victor looked at him. His smiling mask of an expression was gone, replaced with a hard and uncompromising look. "If you truly believe that Yuuri, then you're a fool."

Yuuri was stunned by the insult and shook his head. "I—"

"You saw what I did back at Albert Schultz Eishalle, did you not? Whatever power I had unleashed, I had no control over it. I don't know what I'm capable of. And so long as I don't know what I'm capable of, you're not safe."

Yuuri couldn't argue against this logic, but he desperately  _wanted_ to argue against this logic. He didn't want Victor to move to another room. He didn't want them to even be in this situation!

_But I don't think I can convince him otherwise._

"This will only be until after this vampirism is cured," Victor told him. "Once I'm back to normal then we can go about our lives like normal."

 _But what if you never go back to normal?_ But Yuuri quickly shook the thought off before he could say it out loud. "Victor, I—"

"You can call me on my cell phone. I'm not cutting you out of my life, Yuuri. I'll definitely want to hear your voice. But I can't be around you while I'm still a vampire. It's not safe for you."

Yuuri didn't care about being safe. He didn't want to be separated from Victor. He stood there staring at Victor while the other man resumed packing. Unable to help himself, Yuuri surged forward and grabbed his chin. He turned Victor's head up and crushed his mouth over Victor's in a brutally possessive kiss. He half-expected Victor to push him away, but Victor didn't. Instead, Victor stood up his full height and deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue into Yuuri's mouth as he wrapped his arms around Yuuri's back. Yuuri sucked on his tongue before moving to explore Victor's mouth, arms sliding around Victor's neck.

Yuuri groaned against Victor's mouth, savoring the moment as his knees went weak. Victor had just kissed him last night, but he still missed his kisses and hungered for them now more than ever. Heat filled his body pleasantly and he pressed up against Victor. Yuuri pressed his hands against Victor's jawline and tilted his head back—

" _Mmph_!" the sharp pain that erupted from his bottom lip snapped Yuuri back into his senses. He wrenched away from Victor and pressed a hand over his mouth, his chest heaving. He stared at his boyfriend with wide eyes. Victor stared back at him in silence, chest also heaving but his complexion still pale. Victor looked shocked, but Yuuri's focus was on the blood on Victor's mouth.

His own blood on Victor's mouth.

Victor's hand was shaking as he reached up to touch his own mouth, and Yuuri carefully removed his own hand from his mouth and looked down at it. There was a smear of red on his palm. He quickly looked back up to Victor, but Victor was staring at Yuuri's blood coating the tips of his violently trembling fingers.

Yuuri took a tentative step forward. "Victor—"

"Yuuri." Victor's voice was strong as he looked up at him. "Please leave the suite for a little while. I'll send you a text message letting you know when to come back."

"Victor, I—"

" _YUURI_!" Victor's sudden shout caused Yuuri to jump. His voice was full of anger…and terror. "I won't tell you again!  _Leave_! Don't come back here until I'm gone!"

Yuuri reacted instinctively; by turning on his heel and running out of the suite. He almost tripped on the Louis Vuitton luggage bag still sitting in the entryway and was in such a state of shock that he didn't even close the door. Panting heavily, he ran past the elevator and slammed into the stairwell, running down two flights before he could even decide which direction he should go. His mind couldn't process anything except for Victor's tone of voice, and the look of horror on his fiancé's face when he realized he'd bit Yuuri.

"OI!"

Yuuri burst into the hallway two floors down from their suite, and ran headlong into someone. He slammed hard into the other person, hard enough to knock them over. But the body he'd bumped into remained standing and unflinching, even while Yuuri tumbled to the floor. "Watch where you're fucking going, Katsudon!"

Yuuri groaned in dismay at that familiar voice, and didn't have the energy to force a smile as he looked up. "Hello, Yurio."

"Why are you still in your skating costume?" Yuri said condescendingly, folding his arms over his chest. He of course was out of his skating costume and was dressed in his favorite black tiger shirt and black pants. He looked as he normally did…except for the red vampire eyes and fangs. He snorted. "What, was your failure with the charity skate so profound that you wear your costume outside the rink to show your shame?"

"I-I had to literally run away from Albert Schultz Eishalle from the rioting fans," Yuuri said defensively, picking himself up off the floor. "I didn't have time to change. And what are you referring to by "failure"?"

"You fell like you  _always_  do," Yuri reminded him obnoxiously. "And the donations that came in during your set barely went over ten thousand Euros. Whereas  _I_  skated one of the best performances of my career, and I brought in almost twenty  _million_  Euros in donations! How does it feel to be upstaged by me yet again, Katsudon?"

Yuuri sighed heavily, and silently counted to ten to maintain his composure. Then he leveled Yuri with a look. "You're a vampire, Yurio. You hypnotized the audience at Albert Schultz Eishalle and online."

Yuri visibly twitched. "What is that supposed to mean?!"

"I'm not insulting your skating, Yurio, but I'm just saying that you probably did so well today—and you raised so much money—because of the fact that you're a vampire. You did two Quadruple Loops in a row, something I've never see you do before, and you had almost the entire audience at the arena under your control. The only people who didn't seem affected were myself, and Ot—"

"You take that back,  _Ublyudok_!" Yuri shouted. He hissed inhumanly and he snapped his teeth. He grabbed Yuuri by his collar with his left hand and curled his right fist back. "Take it back, or I—"

Yuri suddenly went quiet, and his red eyes went wide. He slowly let Yuuri go. "Hey."

"Hey what?" Yuuri asked, blinking with confusion.

"What's wrong with your mouth? Who hit you?"

"Eh?" Yuuri tried to look down, but obviously couldn't see his mouth. He touched the tip of his fingers to his bottom lip and wince slightly from the pain. "Oh, this? Don't worry about—"

" _Iisus Khristos_  Katsudon, who the fuck hit you?!" Yuuri jumped at Yuri sudden shout, and he was surprised by the rage in the teenager's face. "You have a huge fat lip! Did you hit them back harder?! If you didn't,  _I_ will! I'll kick their ass easily!"

"Yurio, please just calm down!" Yuuri almost snapped at him. "This is no big deal! It was an accident, really!"

"Really?! An "accident"?" Yuri looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How the fuck do you get a fist in the mouth accidentally?!"

"Yurio, I wasn't punched in the face!" Yuuri burst out. "It's just a simple bite, that's all!"

"A bite?! Ho—"

Yuuri saw the wheels quickly turn in Yuri's head. The anger was replaced by disgust and Yuri shuddered violently. "That's gross! That's so fucking gross! You two are disgusting,  _bleh_!"

Yuuri rolled his eyes dramatically. "There now, you see? No harm, no foul."

"Well tell that moron to have more control over himself! If I see another bite on you— _O Bozhe_." Yuri started dry-heaving. "Ugh, I can't stand looking at your stupid face anymore! Keep away from me, Katsudon!" he took off running down the hallway, but his inhuman speed made him look like a blur under the lights.

Yuuri sighed, feeling a slight headache but also happy for the distraction. He gingerly touched his bottom lip again.  _I think there's a first aid kit in the suite. I wonder what my lip looks like that Yurio reacted like that? Victor looked scared too…_

Just thinking about Victor made Yuuri's chest tight and he sucked in a sharp breath. He pressed both hands over his heart and ducked his head.  _I want to help you, Victor. I trust you, even if you don't trust yourself. But how can I help you if you won't let me?_

Yuuri's cell phone buzzed in his coat's pocket and he quickly pulled it out. He saw Victor's name on the screen, but his heart sank when he saw the message.  _"I'm settled in my new room now. You're okay to return to the suite."_

Tears stung his eyes and he looked towards the ceiling. He didn't want to go back to the suite. Victor had booked them a room that was larger than a studio apartment. He already felt self-conscious about being in such a suite with Victor, but now he had to be in there all alone? All by himself while Victor was in another room, suffering alone too?

The phone buzzed again, and Yuuri blinked through his tears to read the new message Victor had sent. The message warmed his heart, but he couldn't stop the tears from leaking out.

" _I'm sorry for my behavior earlier. I love you."_

Yuuri sighed, the sound full of relief but also sorrow. He scrubbed the tears from his eyes before quickly texting back.  _"I love you, too."_

* * *

Phichit slid open the glass door to his balcony as he looked down at his cell phone. "Am I live?" he asked his Periscope audience. "Can you guys see me and hear me?"

He saw multiple speech bubbles pop up in the bottom corner in Thai, English, and other languages but he got the idea. He grinned toothily down at his face. "Good! I have the craziest thing to show you guys!"

" _Crazier than vampires?"_  a bubble immediately replied, followed by  _"Vampires? The BBC said it was measles!"._ Phichit laughed loudly as he flipped the camera image to point out. "You guys have to see this!"

It was dusk, the glow of the sun only visible on the horizon. This was a relief to Phichit, because sunlight had caused him a considerable amount of discomfort today. It was disheartening, but he shook it off. An aversion to sunlight was a drawback to being a vampire.  _Well, the sun didn't fry me to ash so that's a plus at least,_  he thought to himself. He walked to the balcony rail and swung his legs over the side. Then hanging onto the rail by one hand, Phichit leaned out as far as he could and stretched out his arm holding the cell phone. "Look at this!"

In front of the Meliá Vienna there was nothing but pure chaos. Traffic was at a standstill and there was a massive crowd of hundreds of people trying to push their way towards the hotel. Police sirens filled the air and Phichit could see Vienna's riot police pushing people back with riot shields and trying to disperse the crowd to no avail.

"Can you believe this?!" Phichit shouted, seeing the chaos both with his own eyes and on his cell phone screen. Speech bubbles popped up in rapid succession in the corner of the screen. "This is because of us, isn't it?! Everyone's trying to see the vampires!"

Inside Phichit's room proper, Guang-Hong was Skyping with Leo de la Iglesia on his phone. Leo was across the Atlantic getting ready to compete in Skate Canada. "Phichit, come back over the rail!" Guang-Hong shouted. He looked down at his cell phone. "Leo, what do I do?!"

" _So it really is vampires?"_  Leo replied, looking amazed.  _"CNN said you guys were being quarantined for a measles outbreak. CBC said the same thing too on my hotel's TV."_

"Nobody has measles! They quarantined us because some of people here got turned into vampires! Phichit,  _please_!" Guang-Hong showed Leo what Phichit was doing on his phone.

" _Whoa!"_ Leo shouted.  _"Should he be out there like that while the sun is still out?!"_

"Sunlight doesn't hurt these vampires, but he could still fall!"

" _Well, it's good that sunlight won't hurt him. He doesn't sparkle, does he?"_  Leo suddenly asked in full seriousness. Guang-Hong shook his head and Leo laughed.  _"Good! He's not a Twilight vampire, then!"_

"Leo, please stop joking around!" Guang-Hong pleaded.

Oblivious to their conversation, Phichit suddenly had an idea. He looked upwards towards the balconies above his phone. He showed his Periscope audience the balconies. "I think Yuuri's room is at one of those balconies. Victor got him the high-end suite. Should I try jumping up onto one of those balconies to find Yuuri?"

He immediate got replies in the affirmative, although there were a handful of lewd comments about Phichit having a "sandwich" with Victor and Yuuri. Phichit ignored those comments as he switched the camera around so that his face was visible again. "Then it's settled! We're going to go pay Yuuri a visit! Guang-Hong!" He pointed his cell phone at Guang-Hong. "Help me figure out which one of those balconies is Yuuri's!"

"Phichit, can you please come back over the rail?!" Guang-Hong came to the door of the balcony. "You might fall!"

"Nonsense, my grip has no slack!"

" _People are filming you on Facebook Live hanging off your balcony, Phichit,"_  Leo said from Guang-Hong's phone.  _"Wait…are you two alone together?"_

" _Shì_ , for right now," Guang-Hong confirmed. "Our coaches are downstairs talking to—"

" _Is it a good idea for you to be alone with a vampire?"_

Guang-Hong quickly turned the volume down on his phone and shielded the screen, his naturally flushed face turning darker red. "A-Ah, I'm okay. Phichit has a supply of blood, and he hasn't tried to bite me."

" _Guang-Hong, his vampire teeth grew in that viral video after you touched them!"_

"But Leo, this is Phichit we're talking about! I'll be okay!"

" _Yeah it's Phichit, but that's also a vampire! You should be more careful!"_

"It's okay Leo!" Phichit called out, unoffended by his concern. He casually climbed back over the rail. "I have plenty of blood that I won't need to feed on Guang-Hong!"

Leo turned crimson on the Skype feed, clearly embarrassed that Phichit heard everything he said.  _"I-I have to go."_

"G-Good luck at Skate Canada!" Guang-Hong quickly stammered out as Leo ended the call. He looked up at Phichit embarrassedly. "I…uh—"

"Really, it's fine," Phichit said, waving a dismissive hand. "He wasn't trying to be rude. Now, help me find Yuuri's room, okay?"

"O…Okay." Guang-Hong set down his phone and came out onto the balcony. Phichit was still pointing his cell phone at the balconies above them. "W-Which one is Yuuri's room?"

"That's what we're going to find out!"

* * *

"Sara, are you really sure you'll be okay?" Michele asked, unbuttoning his wrist cuff as he said down on his bed.

" _Mickey, I'm going to be fine!"_  Sara replied for the umpteenth time. He could hear the exasperation in her voice and it made him bristle slightly.  _"I have the blood they gave us after that meeting, same as you! I don't think there's going to be any problems for either of us!"_

" _Sí_ , but they warned us that three pints of blood a day won't be enough. I'll give you mine if you're ever hungry."

" _Then what will YOU drink, Mickey?! Remember what Mr. Benefici told Yuri Plisetsky, we cannot go without blood! Do you want to starve?! Or worse, go on a killing spree?! Think logically about this!"_

"I don't want you to get so desperate for blood that you have to feed off some strange guy!" Michele snapped. He pulled the wrist cuff on his other sleeve so hard that he ripped the shirt. "I have to look out for you!"

" _Mickey, what have I told you about our codependency—"_

"This has  _nothing_  to do with codependency!" Michele felt heat on his face though from embarrassment. "Just listen to your older brother! Tell me if you're hungry and don't go feeding off random guys!"

" _Mickey—"_

The doorbell chimed to Michele's hotel room and he perked up slightly. "Sara, hang on a moment." He set his cell phone down and walked over to the door. He looked through the peephole and saw one of the hotel staff. His hands tensed against the door. "Can I help you?" called out in English through the door.

"I have a special delivery for Michele Crispino," the staffer greeted cheerfully.

"Thank you, but for your safety please leave it outside—"

" _Ci sono due di noi. Non c'è pericolo_ ," said a voice from the side.

" _Veramente_?!" Michele quickly unlocked the door and saw one of Benefici's men standing to his right. He bowed his head at the gentleman. " _Grazie Signore!_ "

"Here you are, sir," the staffer said, handing Michele a small insulated foam container. Michele was surprised and tried to hand it back. "T-There's been a mistake, I've already been given blood—"

"Someone donated a pint of blood to you directly," Benefici's man said bluntly in English. He motioned to the staffer. "Let's go."

Both left Michele standing there dumbfounded. He tore off the foam lid and saw a bag of blood inside, along with a small envelope. He set the container down and grabbed the envelope, ripping it open. There was a simple note on the inside.

" _Have a drink on me! Take care of yourself, and don't forget to cheer for me!_

_\- Emil"_

Michele grabbed the container and rushed back into his room. He quickly set the container on the small table in the room and grabbed his cell phone. "Sara?!"

" _Mickey, are you all right?"_ her tone sounded frantic.  _"You were gone for a while!"_

"I'm okay Sara, but never mind. Did Emil send you any blood?"

" _Eh?"_ she sounded confused.  _"Why would Emil send me blood? Doesn't he have to compete in Skate Canada the day after tomorrow?"_

Michele walked back over to the table and pulled out the pint of blood. "I just got a delivery apparently from Emil, and there's a bag of blood in it."

" _EH?!"_ now she sounded shocked.  _"Emil donated blood to you, Mickey?! B-But what about Skate Canada?!"_

"So you didn't get anything from Emil?"

" _No, I haven't! Thank goodness though, I don't think there's any way he would be able to donate_ _ **two**_ _pints of blood in such a short period of time! And right before a competition too!"_

"I know. And it's because he has Skate Canada coming up that makes this feels suspicious to me." Michele dropped the pint back into the container. "Why would Emil only donate blood to me, though? I would think he would've rather donated to you, Sara."

" _I don't know. Maybe you should ask him?"_  Sara used a singsong voice that confused Michele. He looked down at his phone briefly to check the time. "He's probably still in the air now though, so there's no use calling him. I'll call him before Skate Canada starts. In the meantime, I'm not going to drink this."

" _I don't think it should be a problem, Mickey. You don't want to go hungry, do you?"_

"I'm not drinking this until I can confirm that it's Emil's blood. But even with the confirmation I might still end up giving it to you."

" _Oh come on Mickey—"_

"You'll need the blood more than me, Sara, and I'm sure that Emil meant for you to have it anyways."

" _Then why did he send you blood and not me?"_

Michele pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed irritably. "I'll figure it out when I call Emil."

They ended the call soon after. He looked back at the insulated container. He pulled out the pint and the note. It  _was_  Emil's handwriting. He could almost hear Emil's voice when he read the note.

_Ma, why would he give me blood right before he competes in the Grand Prix series?_

Shaking his head, Michele pulled a note from the desk and wrote, "DO NOT TOUCH" on it. He put the note on the pint and put it in the room's mini fridge.

* * *

" _Would you like the good news or bad news first?"_

JJ slowly rubbed a hand over his face as he sat down on the edge of his bed. On the other side of his hotel room Isabella was bent over the table. "The good news, Dad."

" _Well, the good news is that we spoke to the COC and you're still on the Canadian team for the Olympics."_

JJ almost slid off the bed in relief, and ended up doing so when Alain continued.  _"Furthermore, this won't hurt Canada's chances with the Team Skate. We've already qualified with Team Russia, so Canada—and by extension you, JJ—are still in the Team Skate."_

"Oh thank God," JJ sighed, lying on his back on the carpet. He pressed a hand to his forehead. "So, what's the bad news?"

" _We called the ISU about your situation, and while they agree that it's an extraordinary circumstance they made it clear they cannot postpone Skate Canada. Furthermore, they also confirmed for us that by not competing in Skate Canada…you're out of the Grand Prix series, JJ. And…"_

"There's  _more_?!"

" _Because you won't be competing in the Grand Prix series, your base standing in the Men's Single won't be good."_

"How so?"

" _What this means is that you'll be one of the first, if not_ _ **the**_ _first, skater to skate in the Short Program during the Men's Single. And that's assuming they'll allow you to come back."_

JJ blinked with confusion. "What does that mean?"

" _The Canadian government is aware you were turned into a vampire, but publicly the official statement is that you've all been quarantined due to a sudden measles outbreak. You've also been issued a global travel ban until you're no longer a vampire. So until you return to normal, you're barred from reentering Canada and cannot enter South Korea."_

A sharp ringing noise suddenly filled JJ's ears. He barely heard his own voice speak. "So if I'm not cured, I can't ever come home. And I…"

" _And you would be barred from competing in the Olympics. I'm truly sorry, JJ."_

JJ didn't hear his father's condolences. He bit down hard on his bottom lip, but quickly sat up and hissed in pain as his vampire fangs bit straight through his lip. "Isabella!" he called out, slapping a hand over his mouth before he could drip blood onto the carpet. His fiancée however was quick with a towel and knelt beside him and pressed it to his mouth. "Please be more careful," she said softly.

" _JJ, are you all right?!"_ Alain called out on the phone.

JJ nodded to Isabella, who quickly picked up the phone and stood. "He's okay, Alain. Thank you guys so much for working so hard…"

JJ carefully held the towel under his chin and sucked his torn bottom lip into his mouth. The taste of his blood grossed him out, but the healing antigens in his saliva healed his lip and he released it. He gingerly folded the dirty towel and got up. He stuffed it into a clear trash bag Benefici had provided the vampires before collapsing back onto the bed.

_I'm going to miss Skate Canada. ME. Not only that, but I'm out of the Grand Prix Series. And even though I'll still be able to skate on behalf of Canada for the Olympics, I'll mostly likely be going first for the Short Program. I wanted to win three gold medals this season—one for the Grand Prix, one for the Team Skate, and one for the Men's Single. But I've already missed a third of my goal. ME. The greatest figure-skater currently actively competing._

"JJ." Isabella leaned over him. "Would you like to speak to your father some more?"

JJ forced a smile and accepted the phone. Isabella returned to the table. "Thank you for everything, Dad."

" _I'm sorry I couldn't give you better news JJ, but it could be worse."_

"Could be worse," JJ echoed, more to himself than anything as he ended the call. He tossed aside his cell phone, watching it bounce on the mattress before flying to the floor. He pressed the back of his hands against his eyes. "I took a risk to come here so close to Skate Canada, but I wanted to bring awareness to child leukemia. And for my donation, and my promotion of this charity event in Canada I get turned into a vampire, I'm out of the Grand Prix series, and I run the risk of missing the Olympics entirely if this vampirism doesn't get cured."

"Well, look on the bright side," Isabella said from the table. "The charity marathon was a roaring success. They raised almost half a billion Euros for child leukemia research."

"That's true," JJ said, feeling a slight measure of happiness that despite the supernatural setbacks that they did raise a lot of money for a good cause. "But I  _am_  still stuck as a vampire. And with the travel ban against me I can't go home to Canada. I bet they would keep me here in Vienna indefinitely if they wanted."

"There could be worse places to be quarantined indefinitely at. Vienna's a city with a rich history, and the expenses for our rooms are being covered for the duration of the quarantine. And I'm sure you would pick up on German easily, JJ."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. You're the smartest person I know."

JJ shifted his body on the bed and leaned his head onto his elbow as he watched Isabella's back. "You would really stay here with me?"

"Of course." Isabella looked at him over her shoulder with confusion. "Don't you want me here?"

"Yes, of course I do!" JJ sat up. "But Isabella, I don't know how long this quarantine is going to last! You go back to work on the 30th, I can't have you losing your job over me!"

Isabella casually shrugged. "I can find another job if I have to. But I'm not going to abandon you at a time like this, JJ. You're the most important person in my life. You will always come first before everything else."

JJ was surprised by the surge of emotions he felt, and tears stung his eyes. He started feeling better about their situation, and managed a genuine smile. "Thank you."

"You're wel—oh." Isabella accidentally knocked a knife off the table onto the floor. "Oh geez. I'll have to wash this…"

JJ watched her lean down to pick up the knife, but his eyes immediately went to the long column of her pale, exposed throat. A shiver suddenly swept over his body, and to his horror he felt the fangs start to extend. He slapped a hand over his mouth, but they still lengthened out of his mouth. "I-Isabella!" he shouted, looking away from her. He could feel hunger tingling on the edge of his senses. It was very faint, but the sensation frightened him. He was about to shout at her to run when he finally saw what Isabella had been setting up on the table.

His third pint of blood for the day was chilling on top of a bucket of ice usually reserved for champagne. He saw that she'd also set up a simple meal for herself across the table but didn't give it much thought. He surged forward and grabbed the bag. He ripped it open with his teeth and gulped it down, not pausing for breath. He squeezed the bag until every last drop was out, and pitched forward with a loud gasp as he finished drinking. He heaved for breath, planting his hands on both knees, and squeezed his eyes shut. He reached for that horrible feeling of hunger and was immensely relieved to sense that it was gone.

He felt a hand slide across his shoulder blades and Isabella leaned her head close to his and spoke to him in a calm, soothing voice. He wasn't often prone to anxiety attacks but Isabella had witnessed most of them and through trial and error knew how to respond and assist him in these situations. JJ was eternally grateful to have her at times like these, but at this moment he was frightened that the urge would return with her neck so close. But he didn't want to push her away and he already felt his nerves calming down with her close proximity. So he kept his eyes closed and focused on her voice.

 _That was close. I didn't even think I was hungry, but then all of a sudden…I have to be more diligent. I can do better. I_ _**am** _ _JJ, after all._

"Better?" Isabella asked him. JJ nodded and straightened up. Isabella grabbed a napkin from the table and wiped his mouth. "I forgot to ask, but did you call you brother back?"

"And let him see me like this?"

"I got a text from him not too long ago. He heard that you had turned into a vampire and wants to Skype with you and make sure you're okay. But let's be honest—he wants to see your red eyes and fangs. Do you feel like humoring him?"

JJ sighed heavily. "I might be stuck like this forever, Isabella."

"I don't believe that, and neither do you. Mr. Benefici is confident they'll catch the vampire who turned you. Don't worry, in no time flat we'll be flying home to Canada, and you'll be skating in Pyeongchang in the Olympics." She rubbed a hand through his hair and smiled. "But I can understand if you don't want him to see you like this, JJ."

"I…I'll call him a little later." JJ gestured to the table. "It looks like you were setting up a romantic dinner for us. I'm sorry I ruined it."

"I was finished setting up anyways. And besides, I'm starving. I'll probably end up eating my meal as quickly as you ate yours." Isabella kissed him on the corner of his mouth and turned towards her seat. "Before I go back to my room I'll leave my card key with y—"

JJ grabbed her and hugged her tight from behind. He pressed his nose into her short dark hair and inhaled deeply. With the hunger gone he didn't feel tempted to bite her, and he was relieved he could stand so close to her without that risk. And he was relieved that she was there with him.

_I love you. I love you so much._

"Sorry that I'm keeping you waiting again," he mumbled aloud, reaching down and wrapping his fingers around the engagement ring on her finger.

Isabella laughed quietly. "What can I say? I'm a patient woman." She squeezed his arms around herself before releasing, and then she sat down at the table.

JJ sat down across from her. "When I win the gold medal at the Olympics, we'll go straight home and get married in front of all our family and friends." He instantly regretted it though and winced. Making such lofty promises in advance were what caused him to have a spike in anxiety attacks.  _Why can't I think before I speak?!_

Isabella looked up at him. After a moment she smiled again. "Oh…I don't know. I think I would rather have a wedding closer to Christmas. There would be a lot more to celebrate then, don't you think?"

JJ smiled at her then.  _I'm a lucky guy._

* * *

Min-so Park sighed as she ended the call on her cell phone. "That was the KOC. Missing Skate Canada eliminates you from the Grand Prix series. But you'll be happy to know that missing the Grand Prix series will not disqualify you from the Olympics, so long as your vampirism is cured before February. And while missing the Grand Prix will negatively affect our chances of participating in the Team Skate, South Korea has not been eliminated from consideration yet. There will be other opportunities for our team to qualify."

Seung-Gil said nothing as they walked towards his hotel room. He kept his head low and his jaw tight. Min-so looked at him for a long moment of silence before continuing. "I know you're disappointed, Seung-Gil. I know that you had your heart set on going into the Olympics with a Grand Prix gold medal. But winning a Grand Prix gold medal is not as important as winning an Olympic gold medal,  _especially_ for an Olympics that our country is hosting. You're the only male skater competing for South Korea in the singles division, Seung-Gil, and this something we've been working towards for the last six years. There will always be another Grand Prix you can compete in. I cannot say the same for an Olympics hosted by us. Are you listening to me, Seung-Gil?"

They reached his room. Irritated, Min-so reached out and grabbed him by his elbow. "Seung-Gil, need I remind you how important this is? Pyeongchang is your goal! Winning an Olympic gold medal for South Korea is your goal! You need to put the Grand Prix series behind you and focus on what really matters! Once you return to normal—"

Seung-Gil pulled himself free and unlocked his door. He entered the room, and Min-so moved to follow him, but Seung-Gil blocked her path. The glare was familiar to her, but the vampire eyes within the glare made her jump.

"I'm only in this position because you forced me to come here," Seung-Gil told her darkly. "This is all your fault."

Then he slammed the door shut in her face.

* * *

Yuuri wrapped the ice pack he got from the suite's freezer with a paper towel and pressed it to his fat lip. He sat down on the bed and looked at the person lounging at the desk chair. "So…you're not a vampire?"

"No, sweetheart, I'm not," Chris said, casually propping his crossed legs up on the desk and grinning at him. He did not have fangs, nor did his eye-color change. "What made you think I was a vampire?"

"Well, you were wearing sunglasses this morning—"

"Because I was hungover, Yuuri." Chris 'tsked' at him while shaking his head.

"A-And you raised quite a bit of money for the marathon, like the other vampires did."

"I'm a sensual beast, darling. Sensual beasts tend to naturally exude a presence that will grant them favors." His features softened, however. "I  _was_  going to say that it's a shame that I didn't become a vampire, but those who have been turned have done nothing but complain about what a terrible experience it's been so far. And when I look at your lip, I know that I wouldn't be able to give kisses without causing harm. And that's not fun."

Yuuri slowly lowered the ice pack. "H…How did you know this was caused by a kiss?"

"Because I  _know_  Victor, and I know that Victor would never intentionally hurt you. And I know that if anything other than Victor's vampire fangs had caused that injury, then Victor would've already been on the warpath hunting down whoever hurt you. As it stands, Victor is holed up in his new room and won't see anyone—including me, so…" Chris shrugged.

The reminder that Victor wasn't there stung deeply and Yuuri ducked his head. He wanted to voice what he was feeling, but before he could do Chris's cell phone buzzed loudly. Chris checked it and quickly shot to his feet. "It's my bae. The Jacuzzi in our room is ready."

"So you…you're both staying?" Yuuri asked, flushing with shame at the reminder that he couldn't remember Chris's boyfriend's name. "Even though you're not infected? You're also competing in the Cup of China next week, right? Shouldn't you fly home to prepare for it?"

"Yuuri, Yuuri, Yuuri." Chris sauntered over and casually draped his arms around Yuuri's shoulders. "My nearest and dearest friends-slash-competitors have been turned into monsters. I can't abandon them at a time like this. We will stay here and give them the moral support they need."

"Really?" Yuuri asked.

Chris was silent for a long moment before leaning closer. "Did I tell you my suite has a panoramic view and a Jacuzzi in the bedroom? It would be a waste to not use the room while someone else is paying for it,  _oui_?"

Yuuri narrowed his eyes at Chris, but he wasn't upset or offended.  _This is what I should've expected, although I suspect that he DOES want to keep an eye on us…_

Chris's cell phone buzzed again, indicating that his boyfriend texted him again. Chris quickly gave Yuuri a kiss. "Keep your head up Yuuri. This will all be over for you both soon. And I'm sure the next time Victor bites you, it won't be so ba—"

"Enough,  _go_!" Yuuri quickly interrupted, shoving Chris towards the door. He saw Chris to the door, who blew him a quick as he rounded the corridor. Yuuri wandered back into the bedroom and fell backwards onto the bed, still holding the ice pack to his lip. He kept his eyes on the ceiling, trying to keep his mind blank. He didn't want to think about how silent this large suite was without Victor inside it. He didn't want to think about the fact that while Victor was still inside the hotel, he had no idea which room he was at.

He didn't want to think about the fact that Victor wasn't with him—but it was impossible to  _not_  think about it when he sat alone in the suite Victor had reserved for them.

Yuuri was suddenly startled by the sound of tapping against glass. He slowly sat up and looked to his right, and did a double-take at what he saw. "P-Phichit!"

" _H̄wạd dī_ , Yuuri!" Phichit called out through the glass balcony door, waving cheerfully.

Yuuri rushed to the balcony door and quickly slid it open. "What is this? How did you get up here?"

"I jumped up here from my balcony!" Phichit answered nonchalantly, grinning cheerfully with his vampire fangs. "I wanted to check up on you! Can I come in?"

" _Hai_ , hurry and get in here!" Yuuri gave no thought to the fact that Phichit was a vampire, and didn't worry about whether or not Phichit had recently fed. He led Phichit out into the living room of the suite. "Don't scare me like that, Phichit! If you want to visit me, just come up to my floor and knock on the door!"

"I know, I'm sorry." Phichit was still laughing though as he took a seat. Yuuri sat across from him and set the ice pack down on the coffee table. "I just wanted to— _Yuuri_!" he suddenly hollered, standing up. "Your mouth!"

"I know, it's nothing," Yuuri said, waving a hand. "It's just a bite, and it was an accident."

Phichit relaxed, slowly sitting back down. "It had  _better_  have been an accident, or Victor would be sorry."

 _How does everyone know that Victor did this?_  Yuuri wondered, but Phichit continued. "Where is Victor, anyway? I would've thought that Mr. Benefici would want him to stay put in his room."

"He  _is_  staying put," Yuuri said. "Just not here. He moved to another room."

Phichit looked surprised. He gestured to Yuuri's face. "Did he decide this before or after he…?"

"Before." Yuuri was embarrassed to be talking about this, but he was also relieved to be getting this off his chest. "H-He thought that I wasn't safe around him, so he moved rooms."

"I can kind of see where he's coming from," Phichit said. "I mean, I'm assuming he did that to you when you guys kissed, right?"

Yuuri flushed and stammered for a few moments. Phichit shrugged. " _I_  personally think being a vampire is awesome, but the teeth  _do_  hurt. And while I haven't gotten hungry yet, I can tell that I'm seeing you…differently than I did before. We can never be too careful, Yuuri."

"But I can handle this!" Yuuri exploded, standing up. "I know I can handle being with him! But he decided to just move without speaking with me about this first! H-He thinks he will bring harm to me!"

"Well, your lip Yuuri—"

"This was  _before_ that! He said it's because of his routine, and the power he exuded during his performance! He can't control his powers, so he thinks he'll harm me! But he cut me out of this decision entirely!"

"He  _did_  raise an unholy amount of money today," Phichit said thoughtfully. "And his performance triggered a riot that's still going on right now. There's a few people streaming it on Facebook Live, wanna see?" Phichit reached for his phone.

"Phichit you're not helping me!" Yuuri collapsed back onto the couch and buried his face into his hands. "I want to help him. I want to be with him during this time. But how am I supposed to help him if he thinks he'll only hurt me? How am I supposed to help him if he separates himself from me?"

"Hey." Phichit left the couch and took a seat on the coffee table. He ruffled Yuuri's hair affectionately. "You're already helping him by keeping yourself safe. How do you think Victor would feel if he hurt you? I mean, how do you think he felt after he bit you?"

Yuuri remembered the horror and fear in Victor's face after the bite and it made him sick to his stomach. He shook his head. "I want to do more. He always done so much for me, and I've never done anything for him."

"Come on Yuuri, you don't honestly believe that do you? We're both fans of Victor Nikiforov. And as one fanboy to another, I can say that I've  _never_  seen Victor act or look at another the way he does with you. I mean, you  _have_  seen the photos of you two online right?"

"Phichit—"

"No, hang on a moment." He tapped on his phone for a few moments and showed the screen to Yuuri. "Now, look at that expression and tell me that Victor thinks you've never done anything for him."

Yuuri felt his whole face—maybe his whole body too—turn crimson at the intimate photograph of Victor and himself, and Victor was combing Yuuri's wet hair. The Nishigori Triplets took the photograph in secret, not long after he'd started dating Victor, and had put it up online without their consent. Victor hadn't cared but Yuuri had been extremely embarrassed. But he saw himself in the photograph—eyes closed and leaning into the gentle combing, and the expression on Victor's face that even now made his heartrate accelerate. The soft smile and the way he was looking at Yuuri—he didn't have words to describe the way Victor was looking at him, but he knew how to describe the feelings that expression invoke inside him.

_I love him. And when he sees the way he looks at me, it makes me feel comfortable about my own feelings and confident about our relationship. But I'm still not doing anything for him…_

"So I don't want to hear about how you're not being a good fiancé,' Phichit said, tucking his phone away. "But why don't you trying calling him? It'll probably do him some good to hear your voice."

Yuuri shook his head. "I-I don't know his new room number."

"So? Then call his cell phone then."

A musical chime filled the room and Phichit checked his phone. "Ah, Celestino is looking for me. I have to go, but if you need anything don't hesitate to call me okay?"

"Phichit, I…" Yuuri stood up at the same time as him. "Thank you."

Phichit smiled again. "You're my best friend. Best friends do stuff like this, right?"

"A-Are you sure you'll be okay with…?"

Phichit waved a dismissive hand. "I'm fine but I  _do_  have to go. I'll talk to you later, okay? And call Victor!" he shouted over his shoulder as he raced towards the balcony door. Yuuri slowly followed him as he casually swung his legs over the balcony rail and jumped off. Yuuri quickly looked over the side and saw Phichit land with ease on his own balcony a few floors below, and walked back into his own hotel room as though nothing was out of the ordinary.

Yuuri sighed and turned so that he leaned his back against the rail. He looked up towards the sky.  _I should call him, then. Or maybe he'll call me?_

* * *

"Where did you disappear to?!" Celestino scolded, quickly handing Phichit a pint of blood. He found a couple of plastic cups at the kitchenette. "Guang-Hong said you jumped around to different balconies! Didn't I tell you to stay put until I came back with your blood?!"

"I wanted to see Yuuri," Phichit said. He didn't wait for Celestino to prepare a cup and simply unscrewed the top of the bag and started drinking it.

Celestino winced at the sight but shook his head as he folded his arms over his chest. "That wasn't a good idea when you're hungry."

"Mmm." Phichit briefly stopped drinking to shake his head. "I wasn't hungry." He felt how light his bag of blood was though as ducked his head as he rubbed his nape awkwardly.

"Just…be more careful," Celestino said. "Mr. Benefici said you have to keep an eye on your thirst. He did say you'll learn to control it, but for right now you're too new to being a vampire Phichit. You don't want to accidentally hurt Yuuri, do you?"

"No, I don't. But I  _won't_  hurt Yuuri because I will be careful." Phichit finished his blood and threw out the bag. "As cool as it is to be a vampire, I know I'll get bored being stuck in this body forever. So I'm going to work very hard to make sure I don't lose my human soul, and can return to normal."

"And compete in the Grand Prix series," Celestino reminded him.

"And compete in the Grand Prix series," Phichit echoed, smiling. "I'll make sure to win the Grand Prix this year."

"Let's focus on turning you human again first," Celestino said, resting his hands on Phichit's shoulders. "Your first competition is at NHK, which is still a few weeks out. I would suggest training now, but your vampire stamina will allow your body to perform feats that you would not be able to do as a human."

"Like when Victor Nikiforov did those three consecutive quads?" Phichit said with excitement. "That was incredible!"

"Yes it was incredible, but we both know that Victor Nikiforov only pulled off three consecutive quads because of his vampirism. We'll worry about training when you can pull off moves you can feasibly do as a human."

Celestino departed not long after. Phichit hung onto his smile as his coach rounded the corridor, and kept the smile on his face until he closed the door. Once it was closed, and he was alone, he allowed himself to fall to his knees.

"That was close," Phichit said, pulling his knees to his chest. His breathing was ragged. "That was  _too_  close…"

The hunger had started to surface while he was talking to Yuuri, but he'd ignored it because Yuuri clearly needed someone to talk to. But the more he'd ignored the hunger the stronger the urge became, not helped by the fact that he could smell Yuuri's blood from his injured lip. He used Celestino's text as an excuse to leave, but he was frightened of the growing hunger as he jumped down to his room. He'd been afraid that he would attack Yuuri or Celestino or Guang-Hong.

But he'd persevered. He kept his cool in front of Yuuri, Celestino had sent Guang-Hong back to his room, and Celestino himself had distracted Phichit with his third pint of blood for the day. The blood helped considerably, and the urge had gone away as quickly as it had surfaced.

But Phichit was still shaken.

 _The hunger is gone, but I can still feel the tingling of the urge. I'm not hungry but I'm not sated._  He stared down at his hands and let out a shaky sigh.  _Mr. Benefici had warned us that three pints a day may not be enough…and I'm afraid he's right. But am I the only one who feels this way?_

* * *

Yakov grimaced as he placed a glass on the table. To his left was his third pint of blood chilling over ice, and to his right was a bottle of vodka. He first reached for the vodka, and poured enough into the glass that could fill his mouth. Then with great reluctance, he opened the packet of blood and poured it into the glass with the vodka. He stirred the mixture with a spoon, and picked up the glass. After a moment's hesitation he drank the blood/vodka mixture…and promptly choked.

"What are you doing?" Lilia narrowed her eyes at him as she set her suitcases down. She tightened the silk scarf around her neck—a "deterrent" she had said, from either Yakov or Yuri biting. Yuri had then scoffed and snapped that he would never do something so "nasty". Lilia had slapped him for his trouble, but Yuri hadn't flinched or bruised.

"I-I'm trying to make this bearable," Yakov wheezed, slamming the cup down. "I thought mixing the blood with vodka would make it easier, but it's vile! I will never get used to this!"

"I would hope not, considering the hunters are going to kill the vampire who turned you soon," Lilia huffed. "But what you're doing is foolish. Just drink the blood like a vampire would and don't do this nonsense and waste good vodka like that."

Yakov glared at her before snatching the glass up and forcing the disgusting liquid mixture down his throat. He slammed the glass down. "Your lack of compassion is not unexpected but unwelcome, Lilia."

"Compassion?" Lilia said, arching an eyebrow. "You're reacting to this situation like a child. "I expect this from the brat, not you. The man I married did not whine like this."

" _Da_ , I was the man you married. But we're not married now, are we?" Yakov poured the rest of the blood into the glass and drank it down.

"No, we're not," Lilia clipped. She knelt down and picked up her suitcases. "But you might as well get this childish behavior out of your system before Yuri returns. He needs his coach by his side, not another immature punk."

Yakov choked again. "Lilia—"

The door to the suite slammed open and Yuri came into the room. "You're still here?" he asked Lilia.

"Here's my card key to this room, return it to the front desk," Lilia said, shoving it into Yuri's hand.

"Haa?! Why do I have to do that?!"

"Yakov has your blood. Drink it or you will deal with me." She walked past him towards the door of the suite. She opened the door but paused on the threshold. She looked at them over her shoulder. "Both of you had better take care of yourselves, or I will make you both pay."

Yakov and Yuri gaped as she closed the door shut behind her. Yakov snapped out of it first and grabbed the other pint of blood chilling on the ice. "Yuratchka, come! Your blood is right here!"

Yuri walked over and grabbed the blood from him. "I'm tired. I'll drink this in my room."

"Tired? How can you be tired? We're vampires, vampires don't get tired at night! I mean, right now I feel more awake than I have in the last thirty years or so!"

"I'm tired," Yuri repeated through gritted teeth. "I'll drink this in my room."

"All right, fine." Yakov waved a dismissive hand and dropped down onto the couch. "I'm going to watch some television until I feel tired again. Let me know if you need anything."

"Whatever." Yuri stomped to his room and slammed the door shut. Yakov rolled his eyes as he turned on the television. It showed a news report in German, but he saw that it had to do with the charity skate and quickly turned the television off. He groaned to himself and rubbed both hands over his face. For the umpteenth time that day he asked himself the same question.

_Why was I turned into a vampire?_

* * *

Yuri tossed the pint of blood onto his bed and slid underneath the bed. With his vampire eyes he saw what he'd been looking for—a miniature cooler. He'd purchased it in secret when they landed in Vienna. He grabbed the handle and dragged it out from underneath the bed. He sat on the floor with his back against the bed and opened the cooler. He frowned as he saw the snacks he'd snuck into the suite and hidden from Yakov. Pastries, bags of chips, and the like. The snacks were kept chilled by a freezer pack that was still frozen.

With a heavy heart, Yuri pulled out the snacks and tossed them into his carryon bag. Then he looked at the bag of blood. He remembered forcing himself to drink it at the arena that morning. And he remembered how Benefici had loomed over him while he drank his second pint.

He remembered how unpleasant the blood felt in his mouth, going down his throat. How revolting it felt knowing that the blood smelled good, that it got rid of his hunger. These abnormal feelings that a normal person shouldn't feel.

_I have to drink blood, though. If I don't, I'll die. Or I'll turn into a monster._

Yuri scoffed before grabbing the pint of blood and throwing it into the cooler. Then he shoved the cooler underneath his bed.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. I was hoping to have this posted before Halloween, but it’s here now at least.

Chapter Four

Nerezza wiped away the blood that clung to the computer screen, and frowned when it smeared into multicolored pixels. But he was able to see the video of the skating performance that had quite literally enchanted the entire world.

"Victor Nikiforov," he murmured with a smile, licking at his blood-covered fingers as he watched the beautiful movements of the most famous figure skater in the world. The freshly turned Victor utilized all of his new vampire traits while on the ice. His vampire stamina allowed for him to perform three consecutive quads, and he glided across the ice as though his feet weren't touching it. And the power—the exotic and sinfully seductive power he exuded from his natural vampire charm. Nerezza saw from the crowd shots that every single person was under Victor's control.

Oh, he was so happy that he had chosen this facility to feed at (it was always so much easier finding a victim in public than trying to get an invitation into a residence), even though he'd at first felt he had made a mistake in coming here. His prey had been watching this video, and had been under Victor's enthrall, ready to donate money even though the charity skate had already long ended. But once Nerezza was upon the human, they snapped out of it and fought Nerezza off. The resulting fight left Nerezza very little blood to drink, as it splattered onto the computer console in front of him—and on the walls, on the ceiling, and on the floor where his prey finally fell to him—but if he hadn't come here he would not have seen the video that news reports were warning had dangerous effects on people.

He'd seen the performances of the other vampires he'd turned, but none of them had displayed the power or influence Victor Nikiforov had displayed. This was a man who could offer vampirism to a crowd of hundreds, and  _all_  of them would accept it. Victor brought people to their knees, and could make them be at his mercy. He was the perfect vampire, better than anything Nerezza had ever seen.

_This is going to work._ Nerezza's smile grew as Victor struck his finishing pose. He paused the video and leaned forward, caressing the screen where Victor's handsome face was frozen as he blew a kiss. "This is going to work," he repeated out loud. "I will finally be able to build a coven that will bring the world to its knees…and you're going to help me do it, Victor."

* * *

"A-CHOO!"

Sitting on the queen-sized bed in the bed of his new hotel room, Victor groaned quietly as he nursed his nose. With his free hand he tentatively checked his fangs and relaxed when he noted that they had not lengthened out unexpectedly. But he felt the familiar hunger forming on the edge of his senses, and he calmly opened his pint of blood to drink.

A ringtone from his cell phone filled the silence of the room as he finished, and he looked down at the screen. He tensed when he saw Yuuri's face on the screen, indicating that he was the one calling. After a moment he set down the empty bag and picked up the phone. "Yuuri?"

" _Victor, how are you doing?"_  Yuuri sounded like he was out of breath, but Victor recognized the relief in his voice. He was probably relieved that Victor had picked up.  _"Are you comfortable in your room?"_

"My new room meets my needs," Victor reassured him, but his chest ached. He didn't want to be in this room. He wanted to be back up in the suite with Yuuri. But he knew he had to separate himself from Yuuri if he wanted to keep his fiancé safe and not hurt him again. "How is your bottom lip?" he asked hesitantly. His throat burned slightly as he spoke the words. "Does it hurt?"

" _What? No, not at all! I-I'd forgotten about it until you mentioned it!"_

_Liar,_  Victor thought, but Yuuri's poor attempt at making him feel better about accidentally biting him did take away some of the sting he was feeling. "I'm glad," he lied back to Yuuri. "I'm sorry about that, Yuuri. I never meant to hurt you."

" _T-There's no need to apologize, Victor! I know that it was an accident!_ _ **I**_ _should've been more careful!"_

"They're my fangs and they had no business biting onto your lip," Victor said harshly. "Please don't excuse my hurting you."

" _Victor, you didn't hurt me! My lip is fine! Honestly, the fact that you moved rooms hurts more than the bite!"_

Yuuri hadn't meant to say that. Victor sensed it immediately, and he received confirmation of this when Yuuri choked, and began stammering embarrassedly.  _"I—uh—I didn't—"_

"I'm not enjoying this either Yuuri," Victor said, but he used a calm tone to demonstrate to Yuuri that he wasn't upset by the comment. "I would have much preferred to stay with you. But it's better this way. Until I'm human again I'm a danger to humans. I'm a danger to  _you_. As a vampire I don't currently have the self-control I did when I was human. I proved that tonight when I—" he shook his head. "But this isn't permanent. I'm going to be okay. Just…Just please use caution when you're around me from now on. And don't hesitate to call me if you need anything. I always want to hear your voice."

" _W-Would you like me to come down and see you?"_ Yuuri asked hopefully.  _"What's your room number?"_

"Yuuri, I can't see you right now. At least not until I'm confident that I won't hurt you again."

" _Victor—"_

"Yuuri," Victor said with finality. "It's getting late and you've had a long day. You should get ready for bed now."

" _I…okay."_  Yuuri's tone had dipped. Victor could hear the tears in the whisper and he bit down on his knuckles. He didn't notice the blood that leaked down his hand.  _"But you call me too, okay? If you need anything call me or come up and see me. I'd do anything for you, Victor."_

Victor's vision blurred as tears stung his eyes, and he closed them to prevent tears from leaking out.  _Strange how I can still cry, even while being a monster._

" _Victor?"_  Yuuri called out hesitantly. Victor realized he'd been silent for a few moments and licked at the bite wounds he'd made on his hand. He ventured into the bathroom and washed the blood off his hand and arm. "I'm here," he replied. "And we'll both be okay, Yuuri.  _You're_  going to be okay. Understood?"

" _I…"_

"Tell me that you understand, Yuuri."

" _I-I understand, Victor."_

Victor nodded, even though he knew Yuuri couldn't see him. He dried his arm and leaned against the doorway. "Please be strong for the both of us, Yuuri. We're going to get through this." He pressed his lips together before continuing. " _Aishiteimasu._ "

Yuuri sucked in a breath, and Victor smiled faintly at his reaction. The smile however became pained when Yuuri replied. " _Ya lyublyu tebya_."

" _I love you."_

The call ended shortly thereafter, and Victor felt a warmth in his chest at how they'd tried to make each other feel better—saying "I love you" in each's native language. Even though they spoke English to each other, Victor had been trying to learn Japanese and Yuuri had been trying to learn Russian. It was a slow process for the both of them but they were trying.

The warmth however quickly faded with the reminder that Yuuri wasn't there with him. Victor curled up onto his side on the bed, looking at his phone. The fear he'd tried to suppress over the last few hours began to surface again.  _What if I never get turned back into a human? What if I can never control my vampire powers, or urges? What if I hurt Yuuri—what if I_ _ **kill**_ _Yuuri?!_

Victor pressed his hands over his ears and began humming as a desperate attempt to drown out the thoughts. He was well aware of how dangerous he was, which is why he separated himself from Yuuri. He couldn't allow himself to dwell on this ugliness. He would have to worry about these things when they actually happen.

_It's because I need Yuuri. Not as my prey, but I_ _**need** _ _him. I loved him and pined for him for nearly a year before I could finally claim him. No one has ever made me feel so good—or miserable, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world._

Slowly the thoughts dissipated, and Victor reached for his phone again. He pulled up a photograph of Yuuri's drunken antics at the Grand Prix Banquet and smiled fondly.  _I'm going to get through this. I'm going to become human again. I have someone that means more to me than anything else in the world. I'm not going to sacrifice him or let him be hurt over this. Even if it means keeping my distance from him, I will keep him safe._

In the Presidential Suite, Yuuri was also lying on his bed in the darkness of the bedroom looking at his phone. He pulled up a picture of Victor and hugged the phone to his chest, curling his body around it.  _I have to be strong. I have to show Victor that he can rely on me. I can't fall to pieces at a time like this. He wants to keep his distance, but I know he needs me. I need to show him that he shouldn't be afraid to need me back._

* * *

Yuri Plisetsky woke up hungry. A quick glance at his phone showed that it was 4:47 in the morning, but he was quickly distracted by the fangs protruding out of his mouth. He covered his mouth with both hands, but he could feel the fangs like hot brands against his palms.

_Food. I need to eat._  He thought of the blood in the cooler underneath his bed and his stomach lurched. Shaking his head, he dove for his bag and found a custard pastry. He tore off the wrapper and took a generous bite—and promptly retched. What should've been a delicious snack tasted like borscht if someone had dumped a full ashtray into it. Clawing at his mouth he ran into his private bathroom and stuck his head under the faucet to rinse out his mouth. But he found himself gagging when the water rushed into his mouth. It tasted fouler than the pastry did.

_Well no shit this all tastes terrible. I'm a vampire, and vampires drink blood. But drinking blood is fucking disgusting! Those two times they forced me to drink it, I thought I was going to drown in my own vomit! It's unsanitary and fucking SICK!_

Groaning quietly in anguish, Yuri pressed the heels of his hands against his forehead as he stumbled back into the bedroom. His fangs were protruding so prominently out of his mouth that they were cutting his bottom lip without his even trying. He sucked on his lip to heal it and spied his phone. In the moment he felt vulnerable and helpless—but he knew that if he spoke to Yakov, Yakov would tell him to drink the blood he'd hidden away.

And he didn't want to drink the blood.

Yuri snatched up his phone and quickly dialed. He didn't know what time it was in St. Petersburg compared to Vienna, but he had to try anyway. He ended up calling four times in a row before someone picked up. With each passing moment his hunger and panic grew, and he clenched his teeth. He needed to know what to do!

Finally, the call picked up on the fourth try.  _"Yurochka, is that you?"_

" _Dedushka_!" Yuri panted with relief. "Did I wake you?"

" _Yes, but never mind. Are you all right? I heard on the news that there was a measles outbreak, but I was unable to get ahold of either Yakov or you!"_

"I-I'm fine," Yuri initially started. Then he shook his head. "No, I'm not okay."

" _Don't worry about a thing, Yurochka. I'll book the first flight to Austria as soon as—"_

" _No_!" Yuri nearly shouted, sitting up in bed. He shook his head. "No, please don't come to Vienna! It's not safe for you to be here!"

" _Is that supposed to deter me, Yurochka?"_  Nikolai Plisetsky responded, though his tone was still gentle.  _"If you need me, I'm going to be there with you."_

" _Dedushka_ , please stay home. I'm just…having a rough time of it. I-I need help focusing my mind, and to get rid of bad thoughts. Can you help me?"

" _Get rid of bad thoughts? What's really going on there?"_

Yuri didn't know if Nikolai really didn't know about the vampires, but he couldn't bring himself to tell his grandfather that he was infected. "I need help," he admitted quietly. "But can you help me over the phone? I-I need help…dealing."

"… _Do you really not want me to come there, Yurochka?"_

"Yes,  _please_  stay in St. Petersburg. I'll be home as soon as this quarantine lifts, but can you give me advice on how to cope with this?"  _I don't want to drink anymore blood, but I want it desperately. I need to ignore this urge until they can cure our vampirism. There's a team of vampire hunters here, I'm sure they'll find the vampire responsible quickly. Until then, I need a safe way to ignore this thirst._

" _Well…"_  Yuri could sense Nikolai pondering on the other line.  _"Have you tried meditation?"_

Yuri made a face. "Meditation? That's lame,  _Dedushka_."

" _Actually, meditation is a good stress-reliever and helps you to empty your mind. Here, I'll assist you over the phone. We'll start off small since this will be your first time doing it. Are you in a quiet spot?"_

"I'm in my hotel room, and I don't believe Yakov has woken up yet."

" _Okay, good. Are you able to lie down on your back?"_

" _Dedushka_ , I don't see how meditation will help me."

" _You won't know unless you try, Yurochka."_

Yuri sighed heavily and reluctantly stretched out on his back in the bed. "There, I'm lying down. Now what?"

" _Put me on speaker phone, set your phone down, and close your eyes."_

Yuri complied. The ache in his body was growing, and with it his fear was also growing. "Now what,  _Dedushka_?"

" _I want you to breathe in deeply, and then exhale. Focus your attention completely on your breathing. Do this a few times to get comfortable with the routine."_

Yuri did so, but he could feel the fangs rubbing against his bottom lip. " _Dedushka_ —"

" _Yurochka, this will work better for you if you don't speak. If you think about how much this isn't going to work, or how foolish this is, then the meditation won't work for you."_

Yuri grumbled to himself, but tried to do as was told and focus on his breathing and not the discomfort of his fangs or his hunger. It was very gradual, but after a minute or so the sound of his own breathing filled his senses. He wasn't aware of anything else.

" _Now Yurochka."_  Nikolai's voice startled him, and Yuri cursed as he became acutely aware of his vampire fangs once more.  _"I want you to continue breathing, but when you exhale I want you to start counting. I want you to focus on the counting until you reach ten. Then start the counting all over again. Do you understand?"_

"Yeah." Yuri tried to focus on his breathing once more and exhaled sharply.  _Odin._

_Keep focus, Yuri. You want to fight this hunger. You know you can do it until you're cured of this vampirism. Just focus on your breathing and the counting._

_Dva._

_You can do this. You know you can do this._

_Tri._

Everything seemed to melt away. If Nikolai was talking Yuri didn't hear him. He didn't even feel the mattress underneath his body. He didn't feel his fangs or the hunger. He felt like he was floating into nothingness. The only thing he was aware of was his breathing, and the counting he was doing inside his head.

When he counted to ten six times, he allowed himself to come back to awareness. He slowly opened his eyes and rubbed his fingers against his mouth. The fangs had retreated, and while he still felt the ache of hunger, it was a manageable ache that he could ignore. Elated, Yuri grabbed his phone. " _Dedushka_ , it worked! I feel much better than I felt before! Thank you so much!"

" _I'm happy that I could help you, Yurochka. But do you really not want me to come to Vienna? I don't care that there's a measles outbreak, I'll support you."_

"N-No, please don't come. Don't put yourself in danger. I'll be okay, really. Yakov and Lilia are here with me."  _Please don't put yourself at risk around me,_  Yuri added silently.

"… _All right,"_ Nikolai said reluctantly.  _"But let me know if you change your mind. I'm glad I was able to help you feel better."_

Yuri nodded to this. "I can always count on you,  _Dedushka_."

" _I'm glad. And Yurochka?"_

"What is it?"

" _I'm glad you're not sick."_

Yuri's stomach twisted with discomfort. "…Me, too." He felt terrible about lying to his grandfather about his condition, but he knew that if Nikolai knew he'd been turned into a vampire he would fly to Vienna regardless. And Yuri didn't want to risk hurting Nikolai if he did come.

_But I'll be okay for right now. Dedushka showed me how to meditate, and while I thought it was lame it helped me focus my mind so that I forgot about the hunger. With any luck the vampires will find the asshole that did this to us, but for now I can get by without drinking blood again._

* * *

Yuri was able to get some more sleep and woke up around 8 o'clock. Even with the extra sleep his body felt exhausted but he knew it was because it was daytime, and he knew that vampires were at their weakest in the daytime.

Yakov was awake and watching television when Yuri came out of his room. "Where are you going?"

"For a walk," Yuri said curtly, sliding a pair of sunglasses on. "They're arriving with the blood, right? I'll go down and get ours."

"If you're going down, turn this in." Yakov snatched up the cardkey Lilia had left and handed it to Yuri. He looked Yuri over with narrowed eyes. "Yuri, you don't look well. Are you all right?"

Yuri scoffed and quickly shook his head. "We're vampires, Yakov. Neither of us look well."

Yakov actually pondered this and slowly nodded. "Fair point. Come straight back up though after you get our blood."

"Yeah, whatever." Yuri gave a half-hearted wave over his shoulder as he left the suite. He ducked his head as he headed for the elevators.  _Just keep your mind focused and keep meditating. You'll be able to hold off the hunger until you're cured._

The elevator at the end of the hall opened, and Yuri glanced up. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Otabek casually walk out, and he clenched his teeth together.  _Focus! Focus, Yuri!_

"Oh, you're awake," Otabek greeted him. Yuri saw that he was wearing a sweater and scarf around his neck and relaxed considerably. Otabek reached behind himself to hold the elevator door in place before it could close. "Good morning."

"Morning," Yuri said slowly, not allowing his mouth to open too wide to risk his fangs coming out. "What are you doing up here?"

"I came to check up on you," Otabek responded bluntly. "Are you all right?"

It was the second time in less than five minutes that Yuri was asked that, and he quickly grew irritated. " _Yes_ , I'm fine. I'm going down to get Yakov and mine's blood." He regretted saying that though as soon as he finished the sentence.

"I'll walk down with you then, keep you company," Otabek offered.

"…All right," Yuri said reluctantly. " _Spasibo_."

" _Pozhaluysta_ ," Otabek responded, giving Yuri room to enter the hit for the lobby and they started going down.

Yuri glanced at him briefly, but then looked away. "So you came up to my room to check on me? Both Yakov and I are vampires. Don't you think that's unsafe?"

"Not really, no," Otabek said. "You wouldn't hurt me, Yuri."

_We don't know that,_ Yuri thought grimly, but he kept that thought to himself. "I appreciate the gesture, but try to be more careful."

"I know. You be more careful too." Yuri looked at him again and Otabek shrugged. "I know you hate drinking the blood but it's necessary. You don't want to lose your human soul, right? That will happen if you kill someone while feeding. We both know this isn't forever, so hang in there. I'll be here with you."

" _Spasibo_ ," Yuri said again, though he was genuinely touched by his friend's concern. He looked down at the keycard for his room and held it out to Otabek. "Here. Lilia turned this over to us when she moved rooms. I was going to give it to the front desk, but you hang onto it. If you feel comfortable enough entering a hotel room with two vampires, stop by anytime."

Otabek looked down at the keycard for several long moments of silence before looking back at Yuri. "Yakov will disapprove."

"I don't give a fuck," Yuri said firmly. He shook the keycard insistently. "Just take it. I wouldn't mind having your company."

After a few moments, Otabek accepted the card. He tucked it into his wallet as the doors opened to the lobby. "Where do they keep the blood?"

"In one of the back offices," Yuri said, leading the way out of the elevator. He was glad that Otabek was with him, but he felt anxious.  _I can't let Otabek know what I'm doing. He wants me to keep drinking blood and I can't do that. I'll have to be careful with the blood that I hide so nobody finds out about it._

* * *

"Yuuri Katsuki."

The authoritative voice cut through Yuuri's sleep and he was awake in an instant. He quickly sat up. "W-What?!"

" _La sua bocca è danneggiata_ ," a male voice said with alarm. " _Era attaccato_?"

" _Dubbioso_ ," another voice chimed in. " _È probabilmente un morso d'amor_ e."

"Here." His glasses were shoved into his hands. Yuuri slipped them on and gaped with confusion at Stregoni Benefici, who was standing beside his bed. Yuuri sputtered. "W-W-How did you get into my room?!"

"I used the keycard Victor Nikiforov had handed in," Benefici told him. "More efficient than kicking the door down again, don't you think?"

"I…" Yuuri shook his head slowly and looked around the bedroom. The men and women who served under Benefici were standing around the room as well. "I don't get it. What's going on? You already made Victor leave this room."

"I know he's gone," Benefici said. "We're here for  _you_ , Yuuri Katsuki."

"M-Me?!" Yuuri gaped at him again. "Why? Did I do something wrong?"

"I want you to listen to this." Benefici pulled a CD player out of his coat pocket and handed it to Yuuri. "Listen to the entirety of track number 1."

Yuuri wanted to ask why, but he knew they would probably just reiterate that he needed to listen to the CD. Shaking his head, he inserted the ear buds and pressed play.

" _You can hear me, can't you?"_ a male voice spoke in heavily accented English. Yuuri didn't recognize the voice.  _"I know you can. I can use my words to do many different things, just as you believe that you can do many different things to me. But you don't stand a chance. You can hurt me and break my body, but I am eternal. I will be youthful and beautiful for all time. Your body will give out, you will die, and it will decay into rot. Death is very frightening, isn't it? But you will die, and you will be nothing. And eventually, no one will even remember your name. In the grand scope of time, you will always mean nothing._

" _That scares you, doesn't it? The gradual process of your fragile body breaking down. Your youth fading and fading until you are undesirable. Then you will die, and when you die you just stop existing. You stop existing, and you fade into being a forgotten memory. Do you want that to happen to you?"_

Yuuri frowned with confusion. Despite being told to listen to the entire track he hit pause and looked at Benefici. "What's the purpose of this recording?"

"Do you feel anything when you listen to that recording?" Benefici asked.

"Not really," Yuuri answered honestly. "Just annoyance. The speaker uses emotionally manipulative language."

"Do you feel swayed by his words or tone of voice?"

"Swayed into doing what?"

"Then it's true." Benefici held out his hand and Yuuri handed over the CD player. "You're immune."

"Immune to what?"

"Immune to a vampire's charm."

Yuuri stiffened, and he gasped shortly. "W-What?!"

"The recording you just listened to was of a vampire in our custody. We were able to record him using his vampire compulsion to try to sway us into releasing him. His tone and his influence are transmittable even through an audio file."

Yuuri blinked once, and then twice. "…Why would you have me listen to such a thing?"

"My people have observed you," Benefici told him. "And they've observed your interactions with the vampires. The vampires are freshly turned and have no control over their powers. They emit influence and charm without realizing it, and it hypnotizes the people around them. Everyone…except you, Yuuri Katsuki."

"W-Wait, that's not true!" Yuuri protested. "I'm not the only one who's not been influenced by a vampire's charm! Otabek Altin was not influenced by Yurio's performance!"

"I have no explanation for that, but he's not entirely immune," Benefici said. "He was observed during Victor Nikiforov's performance falling under his influence."

"…Really?"

" _Sí_. Furthermore, he wasn't even  _watching_ Victor Nikiforov's performance and still fell under his influence. Truth be told, the power he emitted during his skating routine was so profound that there were  _very_  few people within the arena who did not fall under the spell. You had the closest proximity to him, and yet he did not influence you. Not one of the vampires has influenced you."

"So…" Yuuri was still shocked, and he gestured with his hand as he tried to formulate a thought. "So what you're saying is that I can't be influenced by vampires? How is that possible?"

Benefici shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Haa?!"

"But it doesn't matter how you're immune to a vampire's influence. What matters is that you are, and you can make our lives much easier."

"I-I don't understand."

"Just a little while ago we had some trouble with the Russian punk downstairs. His foul language and attitude is wearing my people thin, and we already have too much to do keeping the vampires under quarantine whilst also trying to find the vampire who turned all of you."

_Russian punk?_  Yuuri rubbed at his forehead. "Do you mean Yurio? What did he do?"

"He went downstairs to pick up blood with the skater from Kazakhstan, but seemed completely incapable of speaking a single sentence without using swearwords," Benefici said grimly. "So, I've come to the decision that we're not going to waste any more time dealing with the vampires and their foolish antics."

"W-What?!" Yuuri cried out. He started to stand from the bed but Benefici blocked him and he sat back down. "You're abandoning the vampires just because Yurio ran his mouth?! You can't do that! I thought you were going to help them!"

"I  _am_  helping them," Benefici told him. "But the vampires are annoying and dealing with them is a waste of time and resources for my people and I. That is where you come in, Yuuri Katsuki."

"Huh?" Yuuri blinked with confusion.

"I want you to act as the liaison between us and the vampires. You'll bring the blood to them and you'll filter requests and complaints from them to us. Since it appears that you cannot be influenced by any vampire—including your fiancé—I think you would fit into this job well."

"L…Liaison?"

"I want you to deal with the vampires so that we can focus our efforts on locating the vampire who caused this mess," Benefici clarified. "Since you seem to be completely immune to a vampire's charm, they will not be able to manipulate you into doing your bidding. Not even Victor Nikiforov, unless you're a weak man."

"Hey, don't talk to me like that!" Yuuri snapped, standing straight up. "I'll do anything to help, but how exactly am I supposed to help when I don't know where everyone is?!"

"We would tell you, of course," Benefici said. He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Yuuri. "Here are the room numbers for all the vampires."

"I—"

"Including Nikiforov."

Yuuri's protest immediately died and he quickly looked down at the piece of paper. Victor's name and room number was listed on top. He gasped shortly as he traced the room number. Victor was three floors below him.

_Now I can go and see him. But Victor deliberately withheld this information from me. How will he react to seeing me at his door?_

"Now that you know, you're now obliged to help us," Benefici said. "The blood is on the first floor and we've told the vampires to stay in their rooms for now, so it would be wise for you to go down and make the deliveries."

Yuuri looked up at him. "I—"

"You don't have to worry about these two." Benefici pointed to Yakov and Yurio's names. "As they already have their blood for the day. But none of the other vampires do and they're probably hungry, so you should hurry."

" _Quante volte Benefici devono ripetersi prima che capisca_?!"one of the women said in exasperation.

" _Abbastanza_ ," Benefici said curtly, though he didn't take his eyes off Yuuri. Yuuri bristled slightly though, because he had a feeling they were talking about him. "You have your marching orders. It's best you move quickly, Yuuri Katsuki."

Before Yuuri could respond again, Benefici departed with his associates. Yuuri was left standing alone in the bedroom still holding the paper in his hand. He looked up and rubbed at his head in confusion.  _Wait…did I even agree to this?_

* * *

With his newfound assignment, Yuuri spent an hour pushing a heavy cart overloaded with freezer containers across Meliá Vienna, locating the hotel rooms of the poor skaters, coaches, and others who had been turned into vampires. He was glad he was allowed access to the freight elevator, because he felt awkward by the strange glances he was getting from guests who hadn't been turned. Luckily most of the vampires were in good moods—Phichit was thrilled to see him and wanted to come with him while he filmed on Periscope (but Yuuri declined), and JJ and Isabella even looked happy to see him. When he stopped by Michele's room he found Sara there, which left one less room for him to visit. Sara was also happy to see him, but Michele…

"What time is it in Saskatchewan?" Michele asked over his shoulder. "I need to find out if this is really Emil's blood!"

"Mickey, just call him and find out," Sara said with exasperation. "Or better yet, just accept his nice gesture and drink the blood he donated to you?"

"I'm not drinking blood that I don't where it came from!"

"Mickey, that's ridiculous! That's Emil's handwriting on the note, so it's most likely Emil's blood that he  _volunteered_ for you! Besides, we don't know where this donated blood they keep giving us came from!"

"But I don't know why he gave  _me_  the blood and not you!"

Sara rolled her eyes and smiled at Yuuri. " _Grazie_ , Yuuri. If you wouldn't mind asking Mr. Benefici if Emil  _did_  in fact donate his blood to Mickey, we would greatly appreciate."

Yuuri nodded. "I'll ask when I go back down."

Of course, there were plenty of vampires who were not in good moods. Plenty of them took their container of blood and slammed the door in Yuuri's face without so much as a thank you. He didn't even  _see_  Seung-Gil, as the other skater refused to come out of his room or answer the door. Ms. Park thankfully arrived however to accept Seung-Gil's blood, but she gave him a short and dismissive "thank you".

_Everyone's really having a rough time of it, huh?_  Yuuri thought.  _I feel like this has been rough on Victor and me, but a lot of the other people who were turned don't have anyone with them._

He deliberately saved Victor's visit for last, but he felt his heart pounding in his throat as he approached the door. Victor had told him just last night that he didn't want Yuuri to stop by, but here he was.

_But I'm not being deliberately sneaky. Benefici-san forced this on me. I wanted to be useful and help Victor…and now I can be._

Yuuri brought the cart to a stop beside the door and stood in front of it. He did breathing exercises to keep himself calm, and raised his hand to knock. Before he could however, the door swung open startling him. Victor's startled face greeted him. "Y-Yuuri?"

"A-Ah…" Yuuri fidgeted violently. He was so happy to see Victor that he wanted to grab him and pull him into a hug. But he saw that Victor was quickly becoming upset so he refrained from doing so. "I—"

"Who gave you my room number?!" Victor interrupted him, closing his hotel room door behind him and emerging into the hallway fully. "Was it Chris?!"

"N-No!" Yuuri said quickly, not wanting Victor blame Chris for this. He pulled out Benefici's list and showed it to Victor. "I-I was made liaison for the vampires! The vampire hunters said I'm somehow immune to vampire influence, so they want me to give out blood to everyone, and gather feedback!"

Victor visibly relaxed at hearing this, but he still looked surprised. "Wait…you're immune to vampire control? That's incredible, Yuuri! How did you manage that?"

"I honestly don't know, and  _they_ have no idea how I'm immune. But they said nobody can influence me. Not even you, Victor."

"Yuuri—"

"Which is why," Yuuri pressed forward. "We don't need to keep separated any longer. You can't hurt me with your powers because you can't control me. When you skated yesterday, you were able to bring people under your influence who weren't even watching your performance. But  _I_  was unaffected." Yuuri turned to the cart. "You don't need to be afraid of hurting me Victor, because you _can't_  hurt me."

"But I  _can_  hurt you," Victor said forcefully. "Even if I can't influence you, I still lack proper control. I'm a danger to you, Yuuri."

"Victor—"

" _Iie_!" Victor cut him off in Japanese. Yuuri looked at him in shock. "I won't change my mind, Yuuri! Until I'm human again, I'm going to keep myself separate from you!"

The hope that had built up in Yuuri quickly vanished. He felt tears sting his eyes but he forced them back and grabbed the last container. He held it out to Victor. "Here's your blood, Victor."

Victor's features softened at Yuuri's quiet tone of voice. He accepted the container but set it down. Then he pulled Yuuri into a tight hug.

They didn't speak for a long time. They clung to each other tightly, as though they were trying to burrow into each other's bodies. Yuuri closed his eyes and absorbed Victor's warmth, and the scent of his body. He still felt like Victor—it  _was_  still Victor. He was just a man trapped with a vampire curse.

_But it's not forever. We'll have to work hard to make sure it's not forever._

Victor's mouth found Yuuri's ear, and he hesitantly kissed the lobe. "I thought I was angry that you found my room. But really…I'm really glad to see you. I'm glad that they gave you this task. But we have to keep a distance, Yuuri."

Yuuri pulled back to look at him. "Victor—"

Victor silenced him by leaning down and licking his mouth. He ran his tongue along Yuuri's torn bottom lip, and Yuuri felt the sting immediately go away. He leaned up, trying to kiss Victor, but Victor pulled away from him and released him. He looked away and wiped at his mouth. Yuuri felt his heart lurch at the dismissive gesture, but then he noticed that Victor's hand was trembling. "V—"

"I won't object to you bringing me my blood every day," Victor said in a low voice. He wasn't looking at Yuuri now. "But from now on don't touch me in any way. And keep a meter's distance away from me."

"A  _meter_?!" Yuuri exclaimed. "But Victor—"

"It's not a request, Yuuri." Victor quickly snatched up his container and unlocked the door to his hotel. "I imagine you'll need to report downstairs. You can call me later."

"Victor, wait—!" Yuuri rushed after him, but Victor closed the door behind him. Yuuri pulled on the door handle, but it predictably didn't budge. Yuuri stood there stunned, staring at the closed door with his mouth hanging open.

_W…What just happened? He just uncompromisingly rejected me. But doesn't he trust me at all to look out for him?_

* * *

The noises coming from his own mouth didn't sound human. It frightened Victor tremendously.

_But I'm not human right now._

It had been a mistake, licking Yuuri's wounded lip. But Victor had wanted to heal the damage he'd inadvertently done to Yuuri's wonderful mouth. So he licked the bottom lip, not with the intention of kissing but with the intention of healing.

But he foolishly didn't consider that Yuuri's wound was still open. He'd licked the torn skin, and tasted Yuuri's blood again—

Yuuri's blood.

Yuuri's  **blood**.

Victor's knees turned to butter and he collapsed onto the floor. The flavor of Yuuri's blood, as minuscule as it'd been, still lingered on his tongue and inside his mouth. He could smell it in his nostrils. His vampire fangs were out and ached so terribly that he wanted to scream in pain. He raked his fingernails against the carpet, and it scratched the fabric almost straight through to the floor.

_Hungry, hungry, I need to feed—_

The container with his blood had spilled out onto the floor when he fell, and all three packets sat on the floor above his head. Victor snatched one up and tore into it from its side, gulping down the blood. A red line dripped from his mouth and down his neck, but he didn't notice. He squeezed the bag between his fists, sucking every drop out.

But…

Victor gasped as he finished, the packet falling out of his hands. He could feel blood on his chin and used his tongue and fingers to lap it onto his mouth. As he did though, he realized that his fangs were still extended.

Yuuri's blood…Victor only had a little of it, both yesterday when he accidentally nipped Yuuri and just now when he healed his lip. But Yuuri's blood…it was the most intoxicating thing Victor had ever tasted in his whole life. The small sample both times sent electricity to his toes and made his insides melt. Victor could not recall ever experiencing anything that tasted and smelled so  _good_.

He'd wanted more…and it was frightening, so frightening because of the fact that  _Yuuri's_  blood invoked this reaction inside him. Yuuri—his fiancé, and the most important person in his life.

Victor touched his extended fangs. They didn't ache as badly as they had moments ago, but they hadn't retreated with his sated hunger. He looked down at the empty packet before him, his breathing coming in and out in short spurts. "It…It isn't enough?"

It had come out as a question, but he knew the truth.

_This blood isn't enough. I…I'm craving Yuuri's blood._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a minor disclaimer, I’m no expert on meditation. I meditate from time to time and I’ve been taught and read about numerous meditation methods. Everyone has a different method that works for them.
> 
> Nerezza is Italian for “darkness”. I know, hardly an original name for a vampire.


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

"You're in first place?!" Guang-Hong exclaimed, looking down at his phone. He held his phone up so that the room could see Leo on Skype. "Everyone! Leo's in first place after the Short Program!"

" _Bien_!" Chris said, blowing Leo a kiss. He showed Yuuri his phone. "Look at the standings so far for Skate Canada. Pretty good,  _oui_?"

Yuuri was seated next to him on the couch and squinted at the screen. The only names he recognized on the list was Leo, who was in first place, Georgi Popovich, who was in second place, and Emil, who was in fourth.

_Was he negatively affected by donating blood to Michele Crispino?_ Yuuri wondered. Per Michele's request he got confirmation that yes, Emil  _had_  personally donated a pint of blood to Michele. Michele however still hadn't looked happy about it, and when Yuuri last checked he still hadn't drunken the blood.

Yuuri looked over the standings again and saw that a Japanese skater was in third, but he didn't know the skater personally and nodded to Chris. "Thank you."

" _Yindī d̂wy_ , Leo!" Phichit said, though he didn't look up from his phone. "All right, I'm about to connect to Periscope…"

"Is this really a good idea?" Celestino asked warily from his position against the wall. "Mr. Benefici might take this wrong way…"

"And pass up this opportunity, Ciao Ciao? No way!" Phichit shook his head and smiled down at his phone. " _S̄wạs̄dī_! I have a treat for all of you today! My best friend just told me something incredible not too long ago!"

"Phichit—" Yuuri began.

Phichit turned his cell phone and pointed at Yuuri. "Yuuri Katsuki is immune to vampire mild control!"

" _What?!"_  Leo exclaimed from Guang-Hong's phone.

"That's quite an accomplishment," Chris said blithely.

"I-It really is incredible," Guang-Hong agreed.

"Yuuri cannot be controlled by any vampires!" Phichit said proudly, still pointing his phone at Yuuri. Yuuri flushed under the scrutiny and looked away while rubbing at his nape awkwardly. "This has been confirmed by Stregoni Benefici himself, as Yuuri told me!"

"That explains why Mr. Benefici made you his liaison," Celestino said, visibly impressed.

"I-It's quite a useful skill to have given the current circumstances," Guang-Hong's coach, Xiao Yi You, said carefully.

"Is it really such a good idea to announce this to the internet?" Chris's boyfriend chimed in, looking up from his phone.

"Phichit, I don't think this is such a good idea," Yuuri said softly, raising his hands defensively.

"Oops, you have to agree to it now," Phichit said, showing Yuuri the message bubbles that rapidly filled his cell phone screen. "Nobody believes me. They think you're lying to me, Yuuri."

" _Why_  would I lie about something like this?! And why would I lie to my best friend?!"

"Never fear, my faithful followers," Phichit said to his phone. "Because Yuuri  _has_ agreed to participate in a demonstration! I'm going to use my vampire powers on Yuuri to see if he is in fact immune. And! And to show that my powers are in fact working, I have two volunteers—Guang-Hong, and Chris." Phichit held his cell phone in front of both. "I'm going to harmlessly use my vampire powers on all three of these guys to prove to you that Yuuri Katsuki is in fact immune! …And to prove that yes, I am a vampire." He grumbled more than spoke the last sentence.

" _That sounds dangerous!"_ Leo warned from his phone.  _"What if something goes wrong?!"_

"That's why we have my coach, Guang-Hong's coach, and Chris's bae all here to intervene if something goes wrong," Phichit answered, showing his phone to each of the people in kind. "But don't worry—I'm not going to attack anyone or try to use them for nefarious means. This is all harmless fun."

"So how do you plan on proving that mind control works?" Chris's boyfriend asked blandly.

Phichit shrugged. "I'm going to ask Yuuri, Chris, and Guang-Hong to tell me one of their secrets."

"EH?!" Guang-Hong cried out, his face turning red.

"Oh, ho ho," Chris laughed softly, looking amused. "That's quite interesting, Phichit."

Yuuri also turned dark red, and he shook his head. "P-Phichit, could you perhaps have us do something else other than humiliate us on Periscope?"

"Why are you guys so surprised?" Phichit asked in confusion. "I told all of you a few minutes ago that this is what I planned on doing to show off my vampire powers. You all agreed."

"I'm playing up the dramatics, sweetheart," Chris told him.

"A-Ah,  _shì_. I did agree to…that." Guang-Hong still looked embarrassed and ducked his head. "R-Right. I won't go back on my word."

"Guang-Hong, if you're not comfortable—" his coach began.

"N-No, everything is fine! Phichit asked me to help him, and I will help him with this!"

"Whoa!" Phichit cried out, looking at his cell phone screen. "Over a hundred thousand people have logged into my Periscope!"

"It's about to get higher," Chris predicted. Guang-Hong did breathing exercises as he took a seat to Yuuri's right on the couch.

"Ciao Ciao, would you please?" Phichit asked, holding out his phone to Celestino. Celestino took the phone, and Phichit adjusted it in his hands. "Here, hold it like so…"

"Are you ready for this?" Chris asked Yuuri in a breathless tone. "Phichit may be too strong for you. You might end up spilling your darkest secret to the entire internet."

"I-I'll be all right," Yuuri said uncertainly. "How about you, Chris? You're not immune to vampire mind control like I apparently am."

"My life is an open book," Chris said nonchalantly, shrugging. "I have nothing to hide."

"R…Right," Guang-Hong said meekly.

"Okay, let's get started!" Phichit announced, clapping his hands. Both Yuuri and Guang-Hong jumped, but Chris lounged leisurely against the cushions. Phichit walked over to the couch and sat on the coffee table in front of Yuuri. He shook out his hands and cracked his neck. Yuuri watched him in silence, trying and failing not to glance at Celestino or the cell phone broadcasting this all live on Periscope. Phichit then ducked his head forward, and Yuuri could've sworn he saw the air physically shift around Phichit.

After a few moments, Phichit lifted his head and looked Yuuri straight in the eye. He grinned toothily. "Yuuri," he said, his tone coaxing. "Is there anything that you would like to tell me?"

Seeing vampire eyes on Phichit's face was still unsettling to Yuuri. He examined his own feelings, but he didn't feel any different. He shook his head. "No."

"Well that settles it," Celestino said. "Yuuri is immune. Oh!" He winced when he saw the screen. "I-I'm sorry Phichit, but your fans aren't convinced yet."

"Maybe you need to put a little more 'oomph' in your charm?" Chris asked.

"Hang on, we're not done yet," Phichit said, raising a hand. He slowly lowered, and Yuuri could see the air vibrate slightly around Phichit. Phichit caught his chin with his right hand and turned Yuuri's head so that he was looking Phichit straight in the eye again. "Yuuri," he repeated, his tone slightly impatient. "Is there anything that you would like to tell me?"

"No Phichit, there isn't," Yuuri responded. He gently pushed Phichit's hand away. "Can you please lean back?"

"It looks like you two are about to kiss," Chris pointed out unhelpfully, leaning his elbow against the arm of the couch and his chin against his hand. He looked highly amused by the demonstration. "That wouldn't be nice of you to kiss another man behind your fiancé's back, Yuuri."

"Chris, can you  _please_  stop?!" Yuuri pleaded with him.

"Are you sure?" Phichit interjected. Yuuri heard the change in his tone of voice, and it made him uncomfortable. Phichit didn't sound human anymore. Which made sense though, since he  _wasn't_ human. "Are you really sure there isn't anything you need to tell me? Something that you want to get off your chest? A dark…and foreboding secret that you haven't told anyone about?"

"Phichit, if I have anything to confess then I wouldn't do it on the internet!" Yuuri huffed, rubbing at his forehead. "Can we stop now? You've asked me three times, and I don't feel any different."

"Please let me try one more time!" Phichit pleaded with him, his voice returning to normal. "I'm harnessing my vampire powers better than I have since I became a vampire! I'm sure I can get a confession out of you!"

"But I thought you believed me when I told you I was immune!"

"I do! But how can my fans believe you when—"

A hand lashed out and clamped down over Phichit's left wrist. Yuuri quickly looked to his right and saw Guang-Hong almost leaning across him. His expression was blank, his eyes wide and mouth slightly parted. Yuuri recognized the facial expression and leaned back slightly. "A-Are you all right, Guang-Hong?" he asked in a meek voice.

Phichit however turned his attention to Guang-Hong and smiled. Yuuri saw the power emulating from him. "Is there something you would like to tell me, Guang-Hong?"

Guang-Hong reached out with his free hand and cupped Phichit's cheek. Then he surged forward and kissed Phichit on the mouth.

"WAUGH!" Yuuri shouted, toppling into Chris from Guang-Hong's sudden movement. Phichit wasn't any better off, grabbing Guang-Hong by his shoulders and pushing him away. "G-Guang-Hong! What are you doing?!"

" _Wŏ ài nǐ_ ," Guang-Hong bluntly replied.

Phichit's jaw dropped and his vampire eyes went wide. "E—Excuse me?"

"I'm in love with you, Phichit Chulanont," Guang-Hong clarified in English.

"EH?!" the entire room shouted in shock.

" _W-What_?!" Yuuri sputtered.

"Whoa, wait a minute!" Chris shouted, leaning across both Yuuri and Guang-Hong to get to Guang-Hong's phone. Leo was still visible on Skype. "Leo, are you hearing this?! Guang-Hong has feelings for Phichit!"

" _Yeah, I know,"_  Leo responded matter-of-factly.

"B-But I thought you two were dating!" Phichit cried out, standing up from the coffee table and pressing a hand over his mouth.

" _Why would you think that?"_ Leo asked, shaking his head.

"Well, you two  _do_  hang out a lot," Chris said playfully.

" _What's your point? Guang-Hong is my best friend. Best friends tend to hang out a lot, right? That doesn't mean we're a couple. Two guys can be good friends without being a couple, you know. Geez, you guys sound like my fangirls!"_

"I-I think you made your point," Xiao Yi You exclaimed, looking aghast as she grabbed Guang-Hong by his arm and pulled him away. "You've adequately demonstrated that Yuuri Katsuki is immune to your vampire powers. Now can you please stop before Guang-Hong is humiliated further?!"

Phichit considered this for a moment before looking at Celestino. "Ciao Ciao, what are my fans saying?"

"…Things I refuse to say out loud," Celestino said grimly. "But overall they're unfortunately not entirely convinced."

"Then I  _must_  continue! I have to prove to everyone that I am a vampire, and that Yuuri is immune to mind control!"

"Phichit, don't you think they've just telling you they're not convinced so that you can force more confessions out of us?!" Yuuri sputtered, waving a hand furiously.

"Why, do you have something to hide?" Chris asked him, batting his eyelashes at Yuuri.

Yuuri flushed but shook his head furiously. The only secret he could think of off the top of his head was that he idolized and crushed on Victor years before he met the man, and how he'd covered the walls of his bedroom with posters of Victor. This was something he'd yet to actually tell Victor, even after becoming engaged to the man. It certainly wasn't something he wanted to blurt out to the internet. "This could get dangerous!"

"But I can't leave my fans hanging!" Phichit said, walking back over to Yuuri. Guang-Hong meanwhile was pressing a hand to his head and leaning on his coach. "I think I blacked out. What happened?"

" _Oui_ , you must deliver on your promise for a show," Chris agreed. "Will you try me next?"

"In a moment. First I want to try to bring Yuuri under my control." Phichit took several deep breaths and then squeezed his eyes shut. "Watch me, Yuuri. I'm going to concentrate my full power onto you."

"EH?!" Yuuri cried out.

"Phichit, please be careful," Celestino said, still filming the proceedings. He made a face at Phichit's cell phone. "The things people are writing in these comment bubbles are unbecoming of adults."

"Wait, WHAT?!" Having retrieved his cell phone from Chris, Guang-Hong was now shrieking at the screen. He had one ear bud in, and whatever Leo had told him on Skype was only heard by him. "I did  _what_?!"

"Guang-Hong…" Xiao Yi You said softly.

"Oh…" the color drained from Guang-Hong's face as he looked at Phichit. He quickly glanced at Celestino before looking back at Phichit. His cell phone slipped out of his hands and clattered to the floor. "Oh, my God…" he turned tail and ran out of the hotel room. "Guang-Hong!" Xiao Yi You shouted after him.

" _Guang-Hong!"_  Leo shouted from the phone, his voice audible in the room again from Guang-Hong's ear buds being unplugged from the phone.  _"Hey, somebody pick up the phone! I can't see what's going on!"_

Yuuri barely paid any attention to what was going on in his surroundings. The air surrounding Phichit pulsed and vibrated like an invisible aura. It expanded out from him with each pulse, and Yuuri unconsciously leaned back away from his friend. Phichit was focusing all of his mental concentration on his powers. Out of the corner of his eye, Yuuri saw Xiao Yi You start to run after Guang-Hong, but then paused after taking several steps.

Phichit then finally looked up at Yuuri. His red eyes were so bright that they were glowing, and this vampire powers were so strong that his fangs had extended out of his mouth. "Yuuri." He didn't sound like Phichit anymore. His voice was urethral, transcendent… "Is there anything that you would like to tell me?"

Yuuri squirmed, and shook his head furiously. "Phichit, I'm not going to—"

"I had an affair with Apollonia Rossi!"

Yuuri's head snapped up and he gaped at Celestino. Phichit slowly turned to look at his coach in confusion. Celestino wore the same blank, wide-eyed expression Guang-Hong had worn minutes earlier. "Ciao Ciao?" Phichit asked uncertainly.

"I had an affair with Apollonia Rossi," Celestino repeated himself. Phichit's cell phone slipped from his hand, and Phichit sped forward to catch it before it hit the floor. "It was twenty years ago; I was still a competitive skater. She was the most beautiful figure-skater I've ever seen, a-and she—I couldn't help myself, but her divorce wasn't finalized! I started a relationship with her while she was still married!"

Yuuri absently recognized the name Apollonia Rossi. She was a famous and celebrated figure-skater in Italy, and had had a public reputation for being a  _very_  devout Catholic. Minako had told Yuuri how scandalous Apollonia's divorce with her first husband had been, because divorce was frowned upon in the Catholic faith, and how critics and fans had been quick to label Apollonia as a hypocrite. Minako however had felt the backlash had been completely inappropriate and had lamented the fact that it'd taken years for Apollonia to rebuild her reputation.

_And Coach Celestino had an affair with her?_ Yuuri tried to form a mental image of Celestino when he was still a competitive skater, but unfortunately unwanted images of Celestino and Apollonia filled his head and he shook his head furiously.

Phichit was still staring blank-faced at Celestino over his confession. He moved back over to sit on the coffee table. "Do you still love her?" he asked randomly.

"Phichit!" Yuuri hollered, grabbing him by the arm. "Please remove your vampire control from Coach!"

Despite Yuuri's protests, Celestino was about to answer him. But another voice interrupted them. "I've been lying to my husband!"

Yuuri and Phichit glanced at Xiao Yi You. Guang-Hong's coach had the same expression on her face that Celestino had. "This year was our fifteenth wedding anniversary. I wanted it to be special. We had dinner at home, and I told my husband that I cooked our meal. B-But I didn't! I ordered takeout and passed it off as my home-cooking! My husband has told everyone how wonderful my cooking is, but I'm a terrible cook! I lied to him!"

Yuuri blinked slowly at her confession. This didn't sound as bad as Celestino's confession had sounded. "I—"

"AH!" Phichit shouted, looking at his phone. "W-What are you guys doing?!"

"What's wrong?" Yuuri asked him.

"My fans are confessing their deepest secrets right on Periscope!" Phichit cried out. He looked at Yuuri in horror. "Why are they doing that?! I don't want them to do that!"

"I have something to say!" Chris suddenly proclaimed, startling Yuuri. Unlike Celestino and Xiao Yi You, he didn't look like he was in a trance. His eyes were swollen and red from unshed tears. "I'm a fraud! I've been lying to my fans!"

"Wait, what?" Yuuri asked him. His stomach squirmed with discomfort at seeing how upset Chris looked. He looked at Phichit. "Please stop this now, Phichit!"

"I-I don't know how!" Phichit exclaimed, looking slightly hysterical. "I was trying to bring  _you_  under my control, but the amount of power I exerted must have been too much! I've brought everyone  _but_  you under my control!"

"Chris, you don't have to say anything," Yuuri told him. "You need to snap out—"

"I lied!" Chris wailed, dabbing at his eyes with his sleeve. "I told everyone I lost my virginity when I was seventeen—but I was  _nineteen_  when I lost my virginity!"

Yuuri fell off the couch in shock, almost slamming into the coffee table. A headache quickly formed as he gaped at Chris. "Haa?!"

"I feel so awful for lying all this time!" Chris wailed, wiping at his face with both hands. "I act like I'm this suave, sensual man, but I'm a fraud! I'm a fraud who's lied to his fans to make himself look better!"

A hand grabbed Chris's wrist and jerked it away from his face. Chris stared stunned at his boyfriend, blinking away tears. "I-I'm so sorry I lied to you!"

Chris's boyfriend didn't look upset by Chris's proclamation. Instead, he took Chris's hand in both of his and pressed it to his own cheek. "You're the first man I've ever been in a relationship with."

Yuuri flushed at his nonchalant confession, and Chris gaped at him. "R…Really?"

"I never wanted to be in a relationship with anyone," Chris's boyfriend continued. "I had no use for commitment. Sure, I would go on dates and take men to bed with me, but the moment they wanted more from me I rejected them. I broke many hearts and hurt many people with my behavior. But you changed me, Christophe. You make me want to be a better person. I'm not afraid of commitment anymore, and I don't want anyone else but you. Maybe I don't deserve to be so happy after how I behaved, but I don't want to let you go." He kissed Chris's knuckles and held his gaze. " _Je t'aime_ , Christophe Giacometti."

Chris made a strangled noise, and lunged at his boyfriend. " _Mon amour_!" he tackled the other man to the floor and they began kissing each other senselessly, not at all caring that they had an audience.

"Please stop!" Phichit shouted into his phone. "Everyone, please stop confessing secrets! This is streaming live; everyone can see your secrets!" He suddenly held the phone away and gestured to it dramatically. "I  _command_  you to stop telling me your secrets!"

Yuuri could hear Leo shouting from Guang-Hong's phone, no doubt confessing a deep secret as well, but with the chaos going on in the room he was not heard. Xiao Yi You was sitting at the hotel room's desk crying over her "betrayal" of her husband, and Celestino gripped his hair in both hands as he took a seat next to Yuuri. "It was so irresponsible, but I never felt for anyone so strongly before! I still think about her from time to time!"

Yuuri at the people surrounding him the room, and honestly did not know what to do.

* * *

That evening, Yuuri found himself standing in front of Victor's door. An aspirin had gotten rid of the worst of his headache, but the migraine still persisted. Phichit's Periscope incident had predictably gone viral very quickly, and it was currently the buzz all over social media. Yuuri had shut off his phone because he was sick of getting updates about it—whether it be "shipping wars" between fans who wanted Guang-Hong to date Leo versus fans who wanted Guang-Hong to date Phichit, or the fact that Phichit's vampire influence was causing people who watched the replay of it to start confessing their own secrets—Yuuri didn't want to be a part of it.

Chris had retired to his suite with his boyfriend and no one had seen or heard from either since, and Celestino's cell phone kept ringing off the hook but he refused to answer it. He shut it off for a couple hours, but when he turned it back on he found he'd received so many voicemails that his mailbox was full. Xiao Yi You's husband, as it turned out, had already known that their anniversary dinner had been takeout and not her home-cooking, but hadn't cared and only bragged about it because his friends and colleagues had been pestering him for details about her skating career, and he'd wanted them to talk about something else.

Guang-Hong had retreated to his room and was apparently on a social media blackout, because his fans were in a panic that he hadn't updated his Instagram in hours. Phichit felt an incredible amount of guilt that his showing of his powers caused worldwide embarrassment of his fans when he inadvertently forced them to spill their secrets. But he was still happily updating his social media accounts, and was thrilled to see that he'd gain over a million followers from the video.

Yuuri had thought that Benefici would be furious over Phichit's abuse of his vampire powers, especially since his vampire influence had penetrated cyberspace and had taken over his audience online and Leo on Skype and was influencing people second-handedly who watched video of the Periscope feed. But the vampire hunter had surprisingly been nonchalant about it.

" _The video shows without a shadow of a doubt that you are in fact immune to vampire control. This will get the attention of not only the vampire who caused this mess, but other rogue vampires. It will bring them to us."_

Yuuri didn't like that Benefici was essentially seeing him as bait, but he would deal with it if it meant that Victor and the others could turn human again faster.

It was evening now though, and despite the insanity that had already occurred that day Yuuri hadn't heard from Victor. His boyfriend had not called or texted him, and when Yuuri brought him his daily blood Victor had told him through the door to leave it outside. Victor was deliberately avoiding him, and it was both hurtful and aggravating.

_I want to help you and be with you, Victor. You can't influence me, and I firmly believe you can't hurt me. So why can't you trust yourself? Why can't you trust me?_

Yuuri shook his head. Victor was wrong; he knew he was wrong, and he was going to prove it. He knocked sharply on the door. "Victor?"

There was silence on the other side of the door. Yuuri knocked again. "Victor?"

The door finally opened, and Yuuri blanched when he saw Victor. Victor was paler than normal, and he had dark bags under his vampire eyes. His mouth was colorless and lips were pressed tightly together. Yuuri reached for him. "Victor—"

Victor flinched away from him and shook his head. "Please, keep your distance Yuuri." His tone was so soft and vulnerable that Yuuri felt the anger quickly bleed out of him. As frustrating as Victor's behavior was, he was clearly struggling with his vampirism. He needed help, even if he didn't want to ask Yuuri for help.

_But I'm going to help him away._

Since Victor retreated away from him, Yuuri took the opportunity to enter the hotel room and closed the door behind them. The room was significantly smaller than their Presidential Suite. There was only enough room for a king-sized bed, a desk with desk, and a small refrigerator and television. "Victor, are you all right? Haven't you drunk the blood I brought to you today?"

Victor nodded stiffly, huddling close to himself and avoiding eye-contact as he ventured deeper into the room. He didn't protest Yuuri's intrusion of his hotel room. "I drank all of it already."

"Really?!" Yuuri exclaimed, surprised and slightly horrified. "B-But you look terrible!" he stiffened as realization quickly dawned on him. "It…It's not enough, is it? They warned us that it might happen, but the three pints isn't enough for you."

"It's…a lot more complicated than that." Victor sat down on the edge of the bed. He was hugging his arms so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. "You need to leave, Yuuri."

"I'm not going anywhere," Yuuri snapped at him. "You're suffering, Victor! I'm not leaving you like this! You need help!"

" _Moy Bog_  Yuuri, you have to leave!" Victor was shouting now, his tone slightly hysterical. With his shout his fangs became exposed, and Yuuri saw that they were extended. Victor began breathing heavily. "It's not safe for you…leave now before I hurt you!"

Yuuri swallowed thickly when he saw the hunger and desperation in Victor's face. He found himself saying, "What if want you to hurt me?"

Victor shook his head and ducked it. "You don't understand. I could bite you, I could drink your blood!"

"That's all right," Yuuri reassured him, raising his hand. "You can have my blood if it will make you well."

"Yuuri, I've tasted your blood before!" Yuuri stiffened at hearing this. Victor looked at him through his bangs. "I tasted it when I bit you, and I tasted it when I healed the bite mark. Your blood…it tastes so amazing. I'm so sick now because the blood I've been getting tastes  _putrid_  by comparison! I  _need_  your blood, I'm craving it! But the craving is so strong! If I bite you, I might not be able to stop myself from draining you! So  _please_  leave Yuuri! Leave before I harm you!"

Yuuri stared at him stunned for a few moments.  _Victor craves my blood? Wait, why am I so surprised? Of course Victor would crave my blood. I'm in a relationship with him, and he loves me. We love each other. We share a bond that doesn't compare to relationships we have with other people. He thinks he will hurt me…but_ _ **he's**_ _already hurting. If the craving for my blood is causing this, will he get better if he drinks my blood?_

Yuuri sighed softly, and turned away from Victor. He reached for the hem of his sweater and pulled it over his head.

"Yuuri, what are you doing?" Victor asked him in a small voice. His eyes went wide when Yuuri unbuttoned his collar, exposing his throat. "Yuuri, no—!"

"I'm offering myself to you, Victor," Yuuri said. He went into the bathroom and retrieved a hand towel. Then he walked over and stood in front of Victor. "Drink my blood."

" _No_!" Victor cried out, clearly horrified. He leaned away from Yuuri. "Yuuri, I can't do that! If I bite you, I could kill you!"

"I don't believe that," Yuuri said. "You already had three pints of blood today. You're not starving, this is just a craving. I want you to satisfy the craving and drink my blood. I offer myself to you, Victor. Take what you need."

Victor shook his head, and sputtered when Yuuri crawled past him onto the bed. "Yuuri…Yuuri, I don't want to hurt you. If I accidentally kill you, I won't be able to live with myself. Please, don't put me in this position!"

"Victor." Yuuri made his tone gentle and coaxing. He took Victor's right hand into his right hand, and their rings met. "Come here. It's all right, really. I don't want you to suffer anymore. If drinking my blood will alleviate your suffering, then I offer it to you. I'm not afraid, Victor. I would do anything for you."

Victor shook his head, but he didn't resist when Yuuri gently pulled him towards him. "Yuuri, I…I'm scared. I don't know what I'm capable of. If I lose you, then I…"

"How do you think I feel, seeing you like this?" Yuuri asked. He kept his tone soft, but he allowed some of the hurt to show. "How do you think I've felt over the last few days when you've shut me out and avoided me? You had no right to decide that you were going to do this alone, Victor. You're my fiancé. We're partners. When one of us is suffering, the other is supposed to there. You've been there for me so many times when  _I_ suffered. I'm not allowing you to deal with this alone. Let me help you."

Victor was close to him now. His breathing was shallow, and his silver hair was in his face. "What if I can't stop myself?"

Yuuri pushed aside the anxiety from that question. "You will." He laid back down on his back and tucked the hand towel under his neck as he settled into a comfortable position against the pillows. He grabbed Victor's other hand and pulled. "Come here."

Victor didn't anything more, allowing himself to be pulled down on top of Yuuri, his legs tangling with Yuuri's. His breathing quickened and grew more ragged as he rested his cheek against Yuuri's shoulder. Yuuri slid his hands up Victor's back as he turned his head to the side, fully exposing his neck to Victor. Victor's heartbeat began pounding harder against Yuuri's chest, and for a moment Yuuri was alarmed as ugly thoughts began invading his head.  _What if Victor won't be able to stop? What if he drains me? What if drinking my blood causes him to go to the other extreme and turn into a monster? What will happen to Victor if something bad happens?_

"You're afraid." Victor's low voice and breath was a caress against Yuuri's exposed skin and he shivered. "I can smell your fear. You don't want to do this, do you?"

Yuuri opened his eyes and turned to look Victor right in the eye. He grabbed Victor's nape with his palm. "You're not going to make me change my mind, Victor. Take me."

Victor said nothing, but pressed an index finger to Yuuri's chin to gently turn his head away again. Then he used the same hand to cup the other side of Yuuri's neck as he leaned in. A soft sigh escaped his throat as he pressed his nose against Yuuri's pulse.

Yuuri closed his eyes again and held himself still as Victor pressed a kiss against his neck. Then he felt Victor's tongue dart out and he gently ran it along the muscle. Yuuri shivered again and bit back an involuntary moan as Victor kissed his neck again, and parted his mouth against his skin. Yuuri dug his fingers into Victor as he sank those vampire fangs deep.

It was the strangest feeling. Yuuri felt the sting of Victor's vampire teeth and it did hurt, but—but it was so strange. Within moments he became more aware of Victor's mouth moving against his skin than the fangs that had pierced his neck, and his skin began to tingle. He felt like he was floating upwards—he couldn't feel the mattress underneath him. Oh, but he felt Victor's body on top of him. His wonderful, lean body pressed against his, covering him like a blanket. He felt Victor's arms slide around him, locking him close. Yuuri could feel each part of his body that touched Victor's, and warmth spread throughout his body. The closeness he felt to Victor in that moment was akin to the closeness he felt to Victor when their bodies were joined in sex. He moaned softly without realizing it, and his fingers relaxed against Victor.

Just as suddenly, the contact was broken. Victor released him and arched his back and neck, his breath coming out in harsh gasps. Yuuri opened his eyes as Victor said down on the mattress in front of him. He could see his blood on Victor's mouth and sliding down his chin, but Victor used his fingers to push the blood into his mouth, not allowing a single drop to be wasted. When he got the last drop into his mouth Victor started sucking on his own fingers, groaning throatily. Yuuri laid there and watched him through half-lidded eyes, his breathing heavy. Victor was  _savoring_  him—he didn't know if he should be flattered or mortified.

Victor came back into himself and lunged forward, cupping Yuuri's cheeks his hands. "Are you all right? Did I hurt you?"

"Y-Yes, I'm fine." Yuuri collected the hand towel and pressed it to his neck. He sat up and though he swayed slightly he quickly recovered. "I've never felt anything like that in my life."

It was surreal how… _pleasant_  he felt. Victor had properly restrained himself, as Yuuri knew he would, and now he felt no different than previous times he'd donated blood. And he felt like he'd established an even deeper connection to Victor than he had before.

It had hurt, sure, but being bitten by Victor had felt so…nice, too.

Victor looked at him, and Yuuri felt his stomach squirm. He could tell by the expression on Victor's face that his reaction to drinking Yuuri's blood was  _far_  different than Yuuri's reaction to being bitten. "It was frightening. Your blood filled my mouth and I felt like I was drowning. You were right, though—my craving wasn't motivated by hunger. It's because of this that I could stop myself, but I kept thinking  _"Maybe a little more, maybe a little more"_." Victor shook his head. "I feel much better now, but that can't happen again."

"What?" Yuuri felt the disappointment quickly. He reached for Victor and took him by the hand. "Why not?"

"I fed my craving, and hopefully it will be enough to hold me until I'm human again. But I don't want there to be a next time, Yuuri."

"But I'm okay, Victor. Really, I am."

Victor gave him a strange look and Yuuri flushed.  _What…Why am I disappointed that Victor doesn't want to bite me again? I-I…Do I like it when Victor bites me?!_  he could feel his blush darken and he ducked his head.  _Oh no. I_ _ **do**_ _like it. Kami-sama, what does Victor think of me?!_

Victor reached out and grabbed Yuuri's chin, lifting his head up. Yuuri reluctantly met Victor's gaze, but it was brief. Victor leaned forward, moving aside the towel. He ran his tongue over the puncture wounds he'd made in Yuuri's neck, healing the marks. Yuuri leaned into the caress, his body becoming warm again. But Victor quickly withdrew and looked at Yuuri. "Thank you, Yuuri. Thank you for all that you do for me."

Yuuri blinked at this. "What have I done?"

Victor smiled softly and pressed a kiss to his mouth. "Everything."

Yuuri wanted to pull him in for a deeper kiss, but Victor pulled away. "You win, Yuuri. I won't avoid you anymore. But I'm not going to bite you again. I'll be strong and survive on the blood they give me. I'll keep us both safe."

Yuuri pressed a hand against his now healed neck. "I-I'm really okay, Victor."

"I know. But I don't want to become dependent on your blood. I'll be fine." Victor left the bed and walked over to the desk. "In the meantime, I want to watch a video with you that I keep getting messages about on Twitter and Instagram. Did you really participate in a vampire mind control demonstration with Phichit?"

Yuuri groaned and hid his face in his hand. "It was a disaster."

"Then I definitely want to see it." Victor held his phone up, smiling at him. "You'll watch it with me, yes?"

Yuuri smiled back at him. "Of course."

Victor climbed back into bed with him, and though he didn't snuggle up beside Yuuri it was still leagues better than the distance he'd been keeping before. Yuuri hoped that this was the worst they would see of this, and that things would get better from here on out.

_It WILL get better. We'll make sure it will._

* * *

"You seem to have adapted to your vampirism well," Lilia observed, folding her arms over her chest. "The younger vampires seem to be out of control, but you're not. How differently do you feel?"

Yakov shrugged from his position on the couch. "To be perfectly frank, I don't feel any different other than my craving for blood. And I think my blood pressure had lowered. Mr. Benefici warned us that three pints a day would probably not be enough, but I'm content. I drink my blood and it satisfies my hunger. All I need to do now is abide my time until I'm human again."

"I suppose it's not surprising," Lilia said. "Despite turning into a vampire you're a man with an elderly body."

"I'm  _not_  elderly," Yakov quickly snapped. Lilia arched a brow and he coughed. "Sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice."

"What I meant is that your metabolism is slower than the younger ones who were turned," Lilia said. "Even as a human you don't need as much to sustain your body as someone half your age would. It's not surprising then that you can survive on the three pints of blood a day, but the younger ones struggle with it."

"I guess it depends on the person," Yakov said. "Yuri seems to be adjusting to his vampirism."

"Really?" Lilia asked, sounding surprised. "Yuri Plisetsky? The same boy whom they had to practically hold down to give blood to?"

" _Da_. Now when Yuuri Katsuki comes to deliver our blood, Yurochka accepts it without complaint. He drinks the blood in his room, but I assume it's because he has to mentally prepare himself to drink it. His grandfather called and told me he'd taught Yuri some meditation techniques over the phone. I think speaking to his grandfather has helped Yuri considerably."

"If this is true, then I'm glad," Lilia said, glancing towards Yuri's bedroom door. "He was the one who made the greatest fuss out of this situation, as any child would. If he's doing as he's told though, then it will be easier for the rest of us."

Inside his room, Yuri snapped his teeth as his vampire hearing clearly picked up Yakov and Lilia's conversation. The sounds of their voices was so crisp, they may as well have been in the room with him.

_But they don't suspect a thing, so that's good._

He still felt the hunger, and to his dismay the meditation wasn't working as well as it had initially. But once he got deep into a trance he was able to forget about the hunger, and his fangs would retreat as well. He knew he could hold off on drinking anymore blood until he was cured of his vampirism. And after seeing Phichit's viral video, and seeing the Japanese Yuuri be completely immune to vampire mind control, Yuri knew that it would draw the vampire who started this shit out.

_But how is Katsudon immune to mind control? Hamster Boy sucks, but I could see the power he was emulating. It was strong enough to influence everyone in the room BUT Katsudon. How is that idiot so strong mentally, when he wilts like a flower under pressure?_

Yuri shook his head. It didn't matter, especially when he had bigger things to worry about.

The cooler he'd been hiding was now in his lap, but after replacing the freezer pack he was having difficulty closing the lid. The blood he would receive tomorrow would overflow the freezer. And the blood he would receive after that wouldn't fit in at all. He couldn't just hide it in the fridge—Yakov would find it and he would realize what Yuri had been doing. But he didn't want to toss the blood out.

_I don't want to drink this, so what am I supposed to do with it?_

He contemplated for a few minutes before inspiration struck and he lifted his head. "I've got it."

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the slow start and OOCness, but there's more to come.


End file.
